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MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



WILLIAM D. KELLEY 

(A REPRESENTATIVE FROM PENNSYLVANIA), 



DELIVERED IN THE 



House of Representatives and in the Senate, 



FIFTY-FIRST CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 



PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF CONGRESS. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

I89O. 









JOINT RESOLUTION To PRINT THE EULOGIES UPON WILLIAM D. KKI.I.LV. 

Resolved by the Senati and House of Representatives of thi United 
States of America in Congress assembled, Thai there be printed of the 
eulogies delivered in » longress upon the late William I ). Eellej . a Repre- 
sentative in tli" Fifty-first Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, 
twenty-five thousand copies, of which sis thousand copies shall be for the 
use of the Senate and nineteen thousand copies shall be Eor the use of the 
Bouse of Representatives; and the Secretary of the Treasury !»•. and he 
is hereby, directed to have printed a portrait of the said William D. Kel- 
leyto accompany aaid eulogies, and for the purpose of engraving and 
printing >aiil portrait the sum of one thousand dollars, or so much then "t 

as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated oul of anj m ys in the 

Treasury not otherwise appropriated. That of the quota to the Bouse of 
Representatives the Public Printer shall set apart titt\ copies, which he 
shall ha\ e bound in full morocco, with gill edges, the same to be d< i 
when completed to the family of the deceased, 

Approved, June ■">. 1890. 

2 



ANNOUNCEMENT 



DEATH OF WILLIAM D. KELLEY. 



January 10, 1890. 

Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker. I rise to an- 
nounce to the members of the House the death of my dear 
colleague, Hon. William D. Kelley, which occurred at 20 
minutes after 6 last evening, at the Riggs House, in this 
city, surrounded by his family, and in the midst of his 
labors. 

I need not say, Mr. Speaker, that this is the saddest duty 
which has ever devolved upon me since I became a member 
of this House. The death of Judge Kelley, who had been 
elected fifteen times as a member from one of the Philadel- 
phia districts, his first election occurring in October, 1 860, and 
the fifteenth and last in November, 1888, takes from me the 
longest acquaintance of my public service — an intimate, 
friendly acquaintance, never marred for one moment of time. 
I can not to-day express my feelings and my thoughts on the 
decease of this distinguished man, known not only through- 
out this country, but, in my opinion, perhaps almost better 
known throughout the world than any other man in American 
public life to-day, for his great service to his roiint ry. for his 

3 



4 . Innouncement <>/ Death oj William D. Kelley. 

greal mind, for his working capacity, and for all thai ap- 
pertains to a useful Representative for nearly thirty years in 
the Bouse of Representatives of the United Stairs. 

I will ink scasion, Mr. Speaker, to ask the House in the 

near future to designate a day when members maj express 
their feelings in memory of our deceased member. At this 
time I beg leave to offer the following resolutions : 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, Thai the House lias heard with deep regret and profound sor- 
row of the death of Hen. William I>. Kelley, late a Representative from 
the State of Pennsylvania. 

Resolved (in recognition of the long and distinguished term of service 
rendered in this body by Mr. Kelley, a term the longest in its history 
and which had made him for many years the •• father of the House" I, 
That appropriate services be held in the Hall of the House to-morrow . the 
I ith instant, at 12 o'clock m. 

Resolved, That a committee of nine members of the House, with such 
members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to attend the 
funeral at Philadelphia, Pa. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate 
and transmit a copy of the same to the family of the deeeased. 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

Mr. O'NEILL, of Pennsylvania. I ask leave. Mr. Speaker. 
t< i offer the following resolution. 

The Speaker. Before the resolution of the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania is read, the ('hair will announce the fol- 
lowing committee under the resolutions just adopted: Mr. 
O'Neill of Pennsylvania, Mr. McKinlej of Ohio, Mr. Can- 
non of Illinois, Mr. Banks of Massachusetts. Mr. McKenna 
of California, Mr. Carlisleof Kentucky, Mr. Mills of Texas, 
Mr. Holman of Indiana, and Mr. Mutchler of Pennsylvania. 

The Clerk will now read the resolution submitted by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania. 



Funeral Services. 5 

The Clerk read as follows: 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, the House do now adjourn. 

The resolution was unanimously adopted; and accordingly 
(at 12 o'clock and 15 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 



Saturday, January 11, 1890. 

The House met at 12 o'clock m. 

The Journal of the proceedings of yesterday was read and 
approved. 

FUNERAL OF HON. WILLIAM D. KELLEY. 

At 8 minutes past 12 o'clock (the Senate having previously 
entered the Chamber and taken the seats reserved for them, 
the Vice-President occupying a chair on the right of the 
Speaker), the casket containing the remains of Mr. Kelley 
was brought into the Hall, preceded by the Sergeant-at- 
Arms of the House; Revs. Dr. Cuthbert, of Washington, 
and Dr. Butler, Chaplain of the Senate; and the committee 
of arrangements, composed of Representatives and Senators. 
The family of the deceased took seats inside the area oppo- 
site the Speaker's chair. 

Rev. Dr. Butler read appropriate Scripture selections as 
the casket was borne to the Hall of the House. 

Rev. Dr. Cuthbert, acting as Chaplain of the House, read 
the ninetieth psalm, and then offered the following prayer: 

O Thou, Who art our dwelling-place in all generations, 
the One in Whom we live and move and have our being, 
our strength and our refuge and ever present help in trouble, 



6 Funeral Servia ?. 

draw nigh unto us, our Heavenly Father, we praj Thee, at 
this time. Dependent upon Thee at all times, we especially 
feel our helplessness and dependence in the face of a bereave- 
ment like this. 

We devoutlj recognize Thy hand in the removal of Thy 
servant, so long a useful and honored member of this body; 

a man respected by all, loved by so many, tl bjecl oi 

much tender friendship and affection. 

O, Thou giver of every good and perfed gift, we thank 
e for this gift to his familj , to his friends, to his associ- 
ates, and to his country. And uow that Thou hast seen fit 
to take him away from us, help us all to feel and to say, 
Thy will, O Lord, be done. 

We gratefully recognize, O Lord, at this time the spirit 
of Christian charity which, in the face of such a calamity 
as this, puts aside all sectional prejudice, all party feelings, 
all political antagonisms, so that we come together a- broth- 
ers united m the bonds of a common sympathy, liable t" 
nmon sorrows and trials, and going to tin- same conflict 

with the last enemy, which is Death. 

\W devoutly thank Thee, Lord, for that great hope 
which is laid before us in Him \\ ho has brought life and im- 
mortality to lighl through the Gospel, so that, although we 
pas i'm ugh the valley of the shadow of death, we may 
fear uo evil. The shadow tells us of the lighl beyond, the 
uighl of the coming day. and the temporary eclipse of the 
shining of the glorious Sun of Righteousness wit h healing 
upon His wings. 

We commend to Thee. 1 1 Lord, this bereaved and affl 
family. Thou who art the God of the widow and the 
Fat le r of the fatherless, shield them \\ ith Thy presenceand 
Thy love. Go with them, dear father, in this journej to 
their darkened home. Be with them in the journey of life 



Funeral Services. 7 

to the end. Guide us all with Thy counsel, and afterwards 
receive us to Thyself. We humbly beg of Thee in the name 
and for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. 

Rev. Dr. Butler, Chaplain of the Senate, then read selec- 
tions from the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the 
Corinthians, and offered the following prayer: 

O, God; we come to Thee amid the mysteries of life and 
of death. We thank Thee for light from Thy throne as we 
go through this pilgrimage. We can not understand Thee, 
God. Fearfully and wonderfully hast Thou made us. 
We rejoice to believe that the unseen Hand guides us, and 
that Thy almighty arm is round about us to shield and pro- 
tect. We rejoice that we have a Father in heaven whose 
eye is continually upon us, and to whom we may come for 
guidance and comfort and strength and pardon and peace 
in every time of need. 

We confess our sins. Thou knowest them better, O Lord, 
than we can tell Thee. 

Our prayer is, God be merciful to us sinners! 

We are but men, full of frailty, compassed about with 
infirmity, often overwhelmed with perplexity. We draw 
nigh to Thee, as our pitying Father. We pray that Thy 
fear may ever be before our eyes, that Thy love may be ever 
in our hearts, and that now, as we gather at this open casket 
in which lie the remains of a brother beloved, we may learn 
lessons of heavenly wisdom. Teach us so to number our 
days that we may walk continually in Thy fear and love. 
Restrain us from all evil; quicken us in all good; strengthen 
us in every time of weakness; succor us in every day of 
temptation. Be to us a very present help in every time of 
trouble. O God, as we turn from this open casket and new- 
made grave to life's responsible, trying, and perplexing 



8 Funeral Services. 

duties, we would quit imM'Iwsasmen, being strong. W< 
rejoice thai while we mourn, \ • ■ t we mourn not as those 
who have ao hope, for we know that if Jesus died and rose 
again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will ( J-od bring 
with him. 

Comforl this bereaved widow and these fatherless chil- 
dren. Thou Judge of the widow and Father of the fatherless, 
we commend them to Thy loving care. Fill them w ith Thy 
spirit ; give unto them an abiding faith in Thee; direct Thou 
their paths; incline and enable them so to walk in the ways 
of righteousness that when they come to the end of life's 
pilgrimage they may be gathered into the Father's bouse. 

And bless, we pray Thee, Thy servants, the associates of 
our departed brother,in their official relation. ( >. that they 
may ever walk in the fear of God; that wisdom from on 
high may animate them in every right endeavor; and so 
direct, our Father, the Legislation of this land that the inter- 
ests of truth may be promote. 1. that the welfare of the people 
maybe advanced, and that this land of ours, so highly exalted 
amongthe nations— so richly blest of Heaven — may continue 
to grow in knowledge and in power and in righteousness, 
Leading the nations toward that coming Kingdom which 
shall never he moved. God forbid that amid the wreck of 
the nations of the past we shall ever be numbered. Pre- 
serve to us. we pray Thee, our freedom, and so till us with 
light from on high, with the Love of God and Love to our 
neighbor, that we may abide in ever-growing strength our 
lives having passed, yet our Government remain when He 
comes whose right it is to reign among the nations of men. 

And now. Lord, teach us bj this providence; bless to us 
this dispensation. Help as, < I Lord, so to live from day to 
day in the consciousness of Thy nearness, guiding, sustain- 
ing, helping, and comforting, giving unto us thy peace, the 



Funeral Services. 9 

peace of God that passeth all understanding, ever to keep 
our hearts and minds. Grant that when we shall come to 
the end of the toil and the care, of sorrow and joy, we 
may fall asleep in Jesus. Grant this with forgiveness and 
grace; not because we are worthy, but for the sake of Jesus 
Christ, our Lord, who hath taught us, when we pray, to say: 
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done upon earth as it is 
in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive 
us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against 
us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 
evil : For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory 
forever. Amen. 

Benediction was then pronounced by Rev. J. H. Cuthbert: 
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love 
of God our Heavenly Father, and the fellowship of the 
Holy Spirit abide with us all evermore. Amen. 

The remains were then borne from the Hall. At 12 
o'clock and 35 minutes the Senate retired, and the House 
resumed its session. 

Mr. Bingham. Mr. Speaker, as an additional mark of 
respect, I move you, sir, that the House do now adjourn. 

The motion was unanimously agreed to; and accordingly 
(at 12 o'clock and 36 minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 



The Speaker. The hour having arrived for executing the 
special order of the House, the Clerk will read the order. 
The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That Saturday, March 15, at 2 o'clock, afternoon, be fixed 
for paying tribute to the memory of Hon. William D. Kelley, late a 
member of the House of Representatives in the Fifty-first Congress from 
the State of Pennsylvania. 

ADDRESS OF MR. O'NEILL, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Mr. Speaker: Biography of eminent men who have 
achieved distinction in life is a great teacher, and holds out 
to youth struggling against adverse circumstances a hope of 
ultimate success. 

William Darrah Kelley, born April 13, 1814, in the 
city of Philadelphia, died at 20 minutes after 6 o'clock of 
the evening of January 9, 1890, at the Riggs House, in the 
city of Washington, D. C. having reached almost seventy- 
six years of age. From his early youth until his death, while 



12 Address of Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania, on the 

a member of the House of Representatives of the United 
States, is another illustration in his successful career of 
what can be accomplished by devotion t<> study stimulated 
by a proper ambition. 

Y"oung Kelley, thrown upon his own resources in his 

boyh 1. was at school until nearly his twelfth year, and 

was fortunate in receiving a good English education. This 
was the hasis of his fondness for study. lie began then to 
earn his own living by going into a store as errand boy ami 
li\ reading proof in a printing-office. His father, who died 
when he was hut two years of age, was a widely known and 
successful jeweler, hut theshrinkage in all business pursuits 
following the war of L812 brought to him financial disaster. 
The son. feeling the necessity of adopting some permanent 
occupation, concluded to learn the business his father had 
followed, and by thirteen years of age had apprenticed him- 
self for seven years to a linn of jewelers. Having completed 
his apprenticeship, he went in a little while to the city of 
Boston, and worked there several years as a journeyman. 

Returning to Phila lelphia in his early manhood lie com- 
menced the study of law. and at twenty-seven years of age 
was admitted to the bar. With a matured intellect and with 
close habits of study he soon became prominent as a lawyer, 
and. attracting by his rapid progress in his profession the 
attention of the governor of the Commonwealth, he was 
appointed prosecuting attorney of the city and county of 
Philadelphia, and held that office a second time. In 1846, 
at thirty-two years of age, he was commissioned by appoint- 
ment a judge of the court of common pleas. In L851, the 
judiciary of Pennsylvania having become elective, he was 
chosen by the people to the same courl for a term of ten 
years, remaining a judge aboui half his elective term, he 
having served in that capacity about ten years in all. 



Life and Character of William D. Kellcy. 13 

He was nominated in 1850 for the House of Representa- 
tives, and then resigned his judgeship. His resignation 
enabled him to take part with propriety in the interesting 
canvass of that year, presenting to the people with great 
power and eloquence the principles of Republicanism upon 
which he sought to be elected, and urging with force and 
vigor the election of General John C. Fre'mont. The cam- 
paign ended in the defeat of the judge for Congress, and also 
the distinguished candidate for the Presidency. 

He had won distinction upon the bench, and, coming to the 
bar again, his knowledge of the law and his iinpressiveness 
of speech brought to him at once a large clientage, both as 
counselor and advocate. 

Taking hours from his professional work, he was promi- 
nent in the lecture field upon many of the subjects, irrespect- 
ive of politics, of that day which called to the rostrum 
many cultured men. An errand boy, a printer's proof- 
reader, a jeweler's apprentice, a workman at his trade. ;i 
lawyer, a prosecutor of the pleas, a judge, and a lecturer — 
he never failed of success for he never ceased to devote him- 
self to study. His temperament was such that he must 
work ; his unwearying eagerness for learning and his deter- 
mination to succeed elevated him in the estimation of the 
people and made his Avonderful career in public life a histor- 
ical certainty. 

My acquaintance with my late colleague commenced when 
he was filling the position of prosecuting attorney. As a 
student at law I was frequently a listener in the courts and 
in the quarter sessions and oyer and terminer, which gave 
me opportunities of hearing him in the trials of criminals 
of all grades. I was impressed with his consummate skill 
in the examination of witnesses, his logical analysis of evi- 
dence, and his persuasive power of presenting cases to juries. 



14 Address of Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania, on tin 

A- I Look back upon these earlier years of his professional 
life, the Philadelphia bar full of great lawyers. I can say 
that he was noted among them as already a distinguished 
leader. 

ons were qow agitating the public mind, and 
Kki.i.ky naturally entered into their discussion. In 

division of parties he had been a Democrat, but he dif- 
fered with that party upon the issue of slavery and its exten- 
sion. In his lectures before large assemblies he advocated 
freedom to all, and upon the stump as a candidate made him- 
self mosl conspicuous as an "rat' n- and contributed in a great 
degree to the future success of the Republican party. 

:ted to the House of Representatives in 1860 as a Re- 
publican, he was sworn in as a member of the Thirty-seventh 
' igress at the session called by President Lincoln July !. 

L. He came to the performance of his duties fully 
dpped, for he had studied the principles of republican 

ernment. A- a man of the people, he understood what 
was due to humanity. With a mind stored with knowledge 
acquired by study of the writings of tin- fathers of the Re- 
public, lie g i took rank with the great statesmen who 

welcomed him to a seal beside them in that eventful called 

ion. Among them, as senior <■< Jleagues from Pennsyl- 
vania, were Thaddei S as, Galusha A. Grow, James K. 
Moorhead, and Edward McPherson, all widely known 
throughout the country. 

From other States were seated there Justin s. Morrill, 
William S. Holman, Henry L. Daw.-. John A. Logan, 
Schuyler Colfax. Daniel \Y. Voorhees, William Windom, 
Robert Mallory, John A. Bingham, Samue - Cox, Elihu 
B. Wa8hburne, Clement L. Vallandigham, William A. 
Wheeler, Francis P. Blair, jr., R Conkling, George H. 

I' .lame- K. Wilson, Elijah Ward. who. with many 

others of distinction, composed that House of Representa- 



Life and Character of William D. Kellcy. 15 

tives of the Thirty-seventh Congress. With its roll of only 
181 members who took the oath of office, I believe it has 
never been surpassed, if ever equaled, in the number of men 
who already had impressed themselves upon the country for 
statesmanship or who subsequently, so many of them, rose 
to higher eminence in different branches of Government 
service. 

Judge Kelley, for the first time in a representative posi- 
tion and finding himself surrounded by so many great men, 
but depending, as was his wont, upon his own ability, at 
once came almost to the forefront, and sustained himself 
well in that early day of his Congressional service. Soon he 
was acknowledged as fit to take a prominent part in the de- 
liberations and debates of that stormy period. The great 
leader of Republicanism in the House of Representatives 
then was Thaddeus Stevens, who was, in my judgment, the 
greatest leader ever in Congressional life. In statesmanship, 
without detracting in the least from the reputation of others 
with whom it has been my good fortune to serve these many 
years in the House, I place him before them all. Now, in 
conscientiously considering where should stand upon the 
roll of leading members of Congress the name of my long- 
time colleague. Judge Kelley, I must inscribe it next to the 
great American commoner, Thaddeus Stevens. 

This high position I give him I believe is due to him, for 
never in my Congressional acquaintance has any one excelled 
him in persistent acquisition of knowledge and in toiling 
without cessation through years as a Representative for the 
advancement of his country's interests. He never failed at 
any time earnestly to advance by legislation the improve- 
ment in circumstances of his own immediate constituents 
while never neglecting the people at large. So able in argu- 
ment for the abolition of slavery, so patriotic in his teachings 



16 Address of Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania, on the 

for the preservation of the Union, so convincing in speech 
for the system of protection to American industry that eu- 
logy is exhausted. The Congressional Globe and the Con- 
gressional Record in their pages contain an imperishable 
historj of William I). Kki.i.ky as a Representative in Con- 
gress. He never spoke hill to enlighten his hearers and the 
country. His eloquence upon this floor at times turned ex- 
pected defeat into victory; and his voice raised to accomplish 
something for the poor and distressed, seeking individual 
legislation, rarely was in vain. 

Judge Kki.i.kv had the confidence of President Lincoln and 
his Cabinet. He was frequently called upon by them dur- 
ing the four years of the rebellion for suggestions, and his 
broad views and his convictions of righl manj a time were 
concurred In by those distinguished men. His faculty of 
research, his extensive reading, bis gifl of a never-failing 
memory, his personal visitations to almost every part of our 
country in search of information, his journey ings in Europe, 
his contact with the great men here and in many foreign 
lands taughl him as few men have been taught. He gath- 
ered facts from every source and brought them into use with 
great effect upon all subjects upon which he wrote or spoke. 
This devotion to the acquisition of knowledge made him a 
statesman. Such, in my est imat ion. must be the manner of 
life of any one who wishes to accomplish statesmanship. 

Opon the subject of protection, in m> opinion, his acquaint- 
ance with its details was far beyond that of anj of his asso- 
ciates iii Congressional life, and was not surpassed, in my 
opinion not equaled, even by those from whom he firsl learn., I 
the principlesof the system, indeed, the tariff was his hobby 

above and beyond every oth< r subject to which he turned his 
attention. What we owe tothosewho have hobbies! Knowl- 
edge would progress slowly were it uol for the devotion of 



Life and Character of 11 'illiam D. Kelley. 17 

earnest men to the study of some one great siibject and the 
promulgation of their researches to the world. 

Notwithstanding the constant hourly and daily occupation 
of Judge Kelley in the duties of his Representative life he 
was prompted to take from his busy moments sufficient time 
to write and edit works upon the topics which engrossed his 
mind. Thus he gave to the public the stores of information 
his industry had accumulated, especially so upon the ques- 
tion of protection. To read his publications is to learn the 
soundness of a system which has given prosperity to our 
country and made us the chosen of the earth. 

Did we ever realize that years were passing on in the life 
of our distinguished friend? Did we look upon him as one 
who was showing the advance of age and decreasing in 
physical strength or mental vigor? That graceful form, 
that lightness of step which all of us so often noticed as he 
crossed this floor, that bright and unclouded mind kej>t out 
of our thoughts even the idea that he had passed far beyond 
three-score years and ten. Not until a few months before 
his death could I, his intimate friend, I who saw him and 
conversed with him almost every day during the sessions of 
the Congresses in which we have served, observe any such 
decided change in his health as to give me undue alarm. 

As late as the 13th day of last September, when he and I, 
in New York, as members of the funeral committee, fol- 
lowed to the grave our dear friend, Samuel S. Cox, his hope 
of active service in the Fifty-first Congress had not entirely 
departed. I saw him several times afterwards in Philadel- 
phia; but still later, in an interview with him at the house 
of his daughter, onlya few days before he started for Wash- 
ington to take his seat in the House, did I feel that he had 
lost strength, seemed discouraged, ami thai watchful care 
alone would enable him to undergo the never-ending anxi- 
H. Mis. 22!)— 2 



18 Address of Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania, on the 

eties which the session would bring upon him. Such a 
change in him between early in September and late in No- 
vember last I could scarcely realize. 

It was nut until after the organization of the House thai 
increasing physica] weakness Led him to decline serving upon 

the Commitl f Ways and Means, of which he had 

been chairman and had served so many years as one of its 
bers. His friends noticed his depression of spirits, and, 
he having lost that natural buoyancy and liveliness which had 
ever made him a cheerful companion, their hearts began to 
fail them and they feared that he mighl 1 1 « ■ t be long among 
them. A man whose patriotic ambition had given him 
of honor was evidently Lingering ou1 but a few remaining 

days of life. 

I never knew Judge Kelley to be ambitious bu1 for an 
acknowledgment of service advantageous to the pi 
'I aspirations never led him tu wish for or to seek the 
Speakership of the House, lie. at times, when approached 
by his immediate Republican colleagues to permit them to 
present bis name to the general caucus as Pennsylvania's 
r that high position, ever declined. Likewise he 
never expressed a wish to be transferred to the Senate. His 
idea of Congressional service was upon the floor of the 
• ■. always asserting that continued elections bj the peo- 
ple of his district covered, the fullness of his ambition. So 
he had his wish. He alone, of all men living or dead, 
received fifteen consecutive elections to the House of Rep- 
itatives. 

Judge Kelley qo1 only in speech was true to the preser- 
vati E tin- Union . bul in practical En the emer- 

gency call of September, L862, he enlisted in an artillery 
company and with it marched to the front, when Pennsyl- 
vania was invaded, and served until its muster out. In a 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 19 

short campaign he endured the fatigues of the march and 
of the camp. He shared with other privates of the com- 
pany the privations and dangers of a soldier's life and held 
as a precious relic an honorable discharge. The exposure of 
those days and nights, in my opinion, laid the foundation 
of his fearful bronchial affection, which ended only with his 
life. He combated this disease with nerve, and never, with 
all the varied sufferings from it. did he yield in his deter- 
mination to stand up to his work, his unconquerable will 
power keeping him many a time in the performance of duty 
while most others would have given up in despair. 

His life was full of most interesting personal incidents. 
He was a positive man and he always uttered his opinions 
and sentiments. There were times and occasions when 
speech was dangerous in many parts of our country, but in 
the fulfillment of duty to principle he went wherever called 
upon to speak for the cause of the Union. His fearlessness 
disarmed his enemies, and under the greatest excitements 
he was given hearings, for his perseverance in the right 
commanded the respect of those from whom he differed. 

How many a time I have heard him in a conversational 
way recount his experiences, and so gifted was he in inter- 
esting statement that he never tired his ever-ready listeners. 
He was truly a complete social companion, and lie enjoyed 
life in a superlative degree. He was of a quick tempera- 
ment, which I ascribe to his long suffering, but no one ever 
reacted in manner sooner, and if an imagined hurting of the 
feelings of any one was told him he never failed to seek out 
the person injured and to evince the greatest kindness and 
readiness to hear and oblige if possible. 

But, Mr. Speaker, the ending of his life was approaching. 
To a friend it was slow of belief, but it was sure to come. 
How could I, after twenty-five years of the closest compan- 



20 Address of Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania, on tht 

ionship here, become satisfied thai before lonj mj associa- 
tions with Judge Kelley, my friend and my colleague, were 
to cease f At lasl 1 Learned from his own lips the progress 
of his disease. Even l>\ his friends he disliked to be asked 
abouf his health, so sensitive had he become. Be knew 
that, however solicitous and anxious they were, his 'lays on 
earth were noi many, and in his love for them he want, d to 
keep from them, as much as he could, his helpless condition. 

Sitting by him at the dinner table at the Riggs House but 
a few days before the Christmas vacation, in a conversal ion 
1 had with him aboul the recess, he knowing I would spend 
it in Philadelphia, said thai he would not, as he thoughl he 
would have more resl in Washington, and thai hiswifewas 
coming to him. fn a moment of extreme depression, and to 
my greal surprise, he said to me: " How difficult 1 am find- 
ing it to talk much; but, my dear, long-time friend, I want to 
tell you that I am a dead man: yes, tn tell you, hut ph-asc do 
uo1 repeal H toothers. Oh," said he, "if my lite can only 
be spared until after t he holidays, how thankful to my ' h >•! 
I will be. I so much desire thai the shadow of death may 
not be upon the households of my dear children and gi 
children to mar their Christmas enjoyments and to darken 
in my family the brightness of that festive time." 

Dear colleague, your life was prolonged beyond that gay 
i,. The wife who was with you, the children and 
grandchildren who were at their homes, had not to mourn 
your death until a later day. 

To me the shock of this, as it were, confidential commu- 
nication was terrible. The composure with which hespoke 
these words. "I am a dead man." unnerved me, and I can 

i Forgel them s i he took to the bed from \\ hich he 

was not to arise again. A devoted wife, sorrowing sons and 
hters.'cared for and nursed him until the last moment 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 21 

he was permitted to Live. He suffered greatly at times dur- 
ing these dying days, but there was no murmuring. He 
knew that his end was coming, but he realized that there 
was One to whom he could look for ease and comfort in the 
passing hours of his trials on earth, and calling time and 
again upon the Lord Jesus Christ, his Divine Lord and 
Saviour, and repeating over and over, by day and by night, 
the Lord's prayer, taught him by his Christian mother, he 
breathed away his life in calmness and composure. 



Address of Mr. Holman, of Indiana. 

Mr. Speaker : When on the 4th day of March. 18G1. 
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated President of the United 
States of America and the Thirty-sixth Congress expired, 
there was a great multitude of people at this Capitol; there 
was some display of enthusiasm such as is incident to a 
great event, but there was a subdued feeling in the minds of 
all men that the issue which the founders of the Republic 
could only postpone, which statesmanship for three-quarters 
of a century covdd only hold in abeyance, must be decided 
by an appeal to arms; that the hour of revolution was at 
hand. Multitudes visited the tomb of Washington as if to 
revive their love for the Union at the shrine of the immortal 
patriot. With anxiety and foreboding men sought to con- 
jecture what, from the gathering storm of human passions. 
Providence would bring forth. 

On the -1th day of July. L861, a day that will be consecrated 
to human liberty as long as the race shall endure, by the 
proclamation of the President of the United States, ( longress 
assembled in extraordinary session at the Capitol. It was a 



22 Address of Mr. Holman, of Indiana, on the 

memorable meeting of Congress. The Republic, resting so 
long in safety in the security of peace, was already in the 
throes of war: the clash of arms could almost be heard from 
the portals of this Capitol. The seats in this Hall won! to 
beoccupied by the Representatives often states of the Union 
were vacant. No great crowds of people filled the corridors 
or galleries. The insignia of war were upon every hand. 
Union soldiers were encamped in this capital. 

Anxiety and a sense of high responsibility pervaded both 
halls of Congress. Y&\ there was from the beginning a 
living confidence, both in House and Senate, thai the Union 
of the States would survive the shock and come forth from 
the gathering darkness in unimpaired grandeur and s1 rength. 

The lines of the greatesl of American poets well expressed 
the confidence and enthusiasm of the two Houses of Congress 
at that memorable meeting on the tth day of July, 1861: 

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State ! 
S:iil on,0 Union, strong and great ! 
Humanity with all its fears, 
With all the hopes of future years, 
[s hanging breathless on thy fate! 
* * * * 

In spite of rock and tempest roar. 

In spite of false lights on the shore, 

Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea! 

Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee; 

<>ui hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, 

Our faith triumphant e'er our fears, 

Are all with thet — are all with thee! 

On that 1th day of July, 18G1, William D. Kellky first 
entered this Hall as a member of the House. The unseen 
forces in t he greal current of human affairs — forces of which 
men seem unconscious, which underlie physical revolutions, 
and ever bear onward the human race to a higher and better 
life— were organizing events which statesmanship could 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 23 

perceive. Statesmen and politicians were "building better 
than they knew." 

In the political contest of 1860 an unusual number of able 
men were chosen by the people to represent them in this 
Hall. The great political party, the counsels of whose 
statesmen had in the main guided the affairs of the Republic 
in former years, was broken into fragments. New men took 
charge of the ship of state. Pennsylvania furnished to the 
House in the Thirty-seventh Congress a very able body of 
men. Of Republicans there were Thaddeus Stevens, John 
Hickman, John Covode, James K. Moorhead, and Galusha 

A. Grow, who was elected Speaker, already experienced legis- 
lators ; William D. Kelley, Edward McPherson, William 
Morris Davis, and others, all of whom were destined to play 
an important part in public affairs. Of Democrats, Hendrick 

B. Wright, the successor of George W. Scranton, the founder 
of the city of his name, whose early death in the midst of a 
career of great usefulness caused deep and sincere public 
sorrow; Philip Johnson, Sydenham E. Ancona, and others, 
men of high merit, who made honorable records in this 
Hall. 

It might be supposed, in view of their long service, that 
I had omitted the names of Samuel J. Randall and Charles 
O'Neill, but the entry of those distinguished gentlemen into 
the public service did not occur until the opening of the 
Thirty-eighth Congress, two years after Judge Kelley 
became a member of the House. 

Having been acquainted with the predecessor of Judge 
Kelley, after the House organized I went over and formed 
his acquaintance. We talked of his predecessor, of whom 
he spoke in high commendation ; we talked of the condition 
of our country and the exigencies of the hour. I soon saw 
the spirit and high aspirations of the new member from 



2\ Address of Mr. Holman, of Indiana, on the 

Pennsylvania. He talked freely; there was no halting in 
his convictions. 

Hi' looked into the future without doubt or apprehension. 
The Union was safely intrenched in the affections and hopes 
of the people, and no revolution could be strong enough to 
even weaken the foundations on which the fathers had erected 
the structure. The fierce conflict impending would open np 
a new era; the slavery of the African, the only obstacle 
which in the beginning clouded the hopes of the fathers of 
a perpetual anion of tin- States, would perish. Unconscious 
force.-, mid.'!- tli.- command of Providence, were to open up 
in the North American Contineni a scene of unexampled 
grandeur. I could not bu1 admire Ins enthusiasm. Judge 
Kkllkv. as I saw him on that -1th day of July. 1861, was in 
the very bloom "f confident manhood. The mysterious 
power "f hope illuminated to him tin' scenes of the coming 
years with rays of golden light. He impressed mo in that 
brief interview with the conviction that with opportunity 
ho would impress his views and. opinions on affairs and poli- 
cies of ( lovernment. 

1 was charmed with Judi^e Kei.i.kv. though I did not fully 
concur in his views or (Vol the confidence ho expressed in the 
future of our country, while rejoicing in the hope he ex- 
pressed. His bearing then, as always afterwards, was pleas- 
ant and courteous; his manner genial, not much inclined to 
self-assertion, hut in a degree diffident; yet his manner ex- 
pressed confidence in himself; with a pleasant and kindly 
bright, sagacious eye that seemed to see everything 

inspiring, and ye1 at moments with an absent expression; 
with a charming voice, under wonderful control and of g] 
compass, that in after year- mi countless occasions was to 
reach every nook of this great Hall, and which men would 
alwaj >-ln].t" hear : such wa- .I udge K KI.I.KV a- 1 recall him 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 25 

to my mind after this long interval of nearly twenty-nine 
years. 

Judge Kelley's record in Congress is in the main con- 
fined to three great subjects — the abolition of slavery, the 
currency, and the tariff. He was as determined, steadfast. 
and practical in his support of the abolition of slavery in 
our country as was Charles Sumner in the Senate or Thad- 
deus Stevens in the House, or as Wilberforce or the poet 
Montgomery were for its abolition in the British Possessions. 
He was intensely hostile to slavery from the time he became 
a member of the House. 

I think he allied himself with the Republican party be- 
cause he believed that that party would in the main embody 
and express the anti-slavery sentiment of the American 
people. He sympathized keenly with the down-trodden and 
the miserable. He believed in the capacity of all men for 
progress and improvement, that all men should have an 
opportunity to better their condition, and that the distinct- 
ive glory of the Christian religion was that it taught the 
unity of the human race, that all men were brethren. He 
hated all forms of human servitude ; he would raise up the 
lowly and give them an opportunity to assert their man- 
hood; hence he championed the measure for arming the slave 
that he might strike for his own liberty ; he would liberate 
and enfranchise the slave because he was a man. He be- 
lieved in the human race ; he saw in the convulsions which 
overthrew hoary-headed distinctions among men, in the 
fierce antagonisms between rival States, the wrecks of revo- 
lution, the everlasting and feverish unrest in the social as 
well as the political world, only the outward expression of 
the aspirations of the human heart for a purer atmosphere, 
for social life a larger liberty and a juster recognition of 
the natural equality and manhood of mankind: the race 



26 Address of Mr. Holman, of Indiana, on the 

ever struggling to be better, He would have said with 
Longfellow, making the race the '"Poet, Prophet, Seer:" 

In their feverish exultations, 

In their triumph and their yearning, 

In theii pat ii mate pul at ions, 

In their words among the nations, 

The Promethean fire is burning. 

Judge K i i.i.kv saw with exultation, emerging from the 
wreck of war. the accomplishment of the purpose to which 
he had devoted the earlier period of his life, the slave eman- 
cipated and enfranchised and representatives of the race in 
both Halls of Congress. 

He was a valuable associate of Thaddeus Stevens in the 
contest in Congress as to the form in which the national debt 
should be created. He stood firmly with Mr. Stevens in de- 
manding thai the currency which should meel theenornn 
requirements of the war should be issued in the form oi 
al-tender Treasury notes, convertible into public securi- 
ties, the principal and interest of which should be payable 
in the same currency; hence his opposition to the national- 
bank system. 

Mr. Stevens, the author of the legal-tender system of cur- 
rencj (greenbacks), was only partially successful in secur- 
ing tin- adoption of his system in 1862. Judge Kki.i.i\ 
adhered to it without faltering, and wenl at a later period to 
tin- yerge i if a rupl are with his party in its defense. Expe- 
rience lias demonstrated that the plan of Mr. Stevens would 
have resulted greatly to the advantage of the people. 

While the statesmen in Congress were ransacking every 

field of property and industry for subjects for taxation to 
meet the demands on the Treasury the question of tie tariff 

gave rise' to hut little discussion. 

At a later period, when the public debl was materially 
reduced .and it was obvious thai the resources of the conn- 



Life and Character of 11 Hlliam D. Kelley. 27 

try would readily meet every demand on the Treasury, the 
tariff became a subject of absorbing interest. In the mean 
time Judge Kelley had become a great master of political 
science from the stand-point of the great party with which 
he was associated. He explored every field of learning and 
experience bearing upon the subject, and for twenty years 
he has been a high authority on all questions bearing upon 
the tariff as a means and method for promoting American 
industry. His elaborate speeches on that subject display 
great ability and inexhaustible industry. He must be re- 
garded as one of the greatest and best informed advocates of 
that policy our country has produced. 

Judge Kelley is justly entitled to be classed as a states- 
man of a very high order. He was not a politician in the 
sense in which thaA term is commonly used ; he was not sub- 
servient as a partisan. He stood by his convictions of pub- 
lic duty without hesitation. He parted with his political 
friends, under a sense of duty, on the currency question, in- 
different to the result. He refused, with dignihed courtesy, 
to employ his time required in the public service to securing 
appointments to office of political associates. He served a 
great constituency in a great city in the high duties of a 
member of this House for over twenty-eight years, and that, 
too, without interruption, a longer period of service than 
has been known in this House since the beginning, over a 
century ago, and had he lived to the close of this Congress 
his service would have reached thirty years, and that, too, 
during a period crowded with a greater number of great 
events beneficial to mankind than any other period of the 
world's history. He has made a great record on great and 
historical questions. He came into this Hall when clouds 
of war covered the whole land and the Union was in mortal 
peril. He lived to see his country prosperous and united, 



28 Address oj Mr. Mills, oj I'< tas, on the 

ry State of the Union in its place, the asperities of war 
supplanted by the kindly relations of a unit •*<! people, and 
peace and bn>t herly kindness overshadowing tin- greal States 
i«t' the Union — 

in. the protecting hand of God inverted above them. 

!!.■ litt this Hall for the last time, bending under the 
weighl of years employed in the service of his country, con- 
scious of possessing the affectionate regards of .-ill the mem- 
bers Hi' tins greal assemblage. Eis political opponents as 

well as his political friends alike join in sentiments of 1 or 

to his memory. Surely, this is a fortunate termination of a 
long and \ aluable life. 

Eon. N. P. Banks, of Massachusetts, paid a very eloquent 
and touching tribute to bis Long-time friend and associate of 
the Eouse of Representatives, which made upon his hearers 
an impression nut soon to be forgotten. No more feeling 
expressions were uttered by any of the eulogists than came 
from the lips of General Banks. 



Address of Mr. Mills, of Texas. 

Mr. Speaker: When we paythe last tribute of respi I 
the memory of William D. Kkllln our minds naturally 
recur to the period of our history through which his sen 
extended. His Congressional career began on the 4th 
March, is*; l. ami ended with his life on the 9th of January. 
Hi was chosen a Representative for thirty consecu- 
tive years, and was a member of the Eouse for nearly 
twenty-nine years. During a large pari of that time the 
country was passing through the mosl trying ordeal that 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 29 

had ever occurred in its history. After his first election 
and before his induction into office some of the States had 
declared the bands of political union dissolved, and soon 
after the fratricidal struggle began. No one supposed it 
was to assume such gigantic proportions or to last so long. 

The wisest statesmen on either side never dreamed of 'the 
limitless military power of the country or the extent to 
which it would be called into action. But it was soon dem- 
onstrated that vast armies were to be levied, organized, 
equipped, and supported; that quartermaster, commissary, 
medical, and ordnance stores were to be provided for the 
largest military establishment ever known on the earth. All 
these had to be created by Congress, and with as little delay 
as possible. 

Beyond these demands, and what was more perplexing 
and difficult of accomplishment, a financial system had to 
be improvised to meet the daily drafts upon the Treas- 
ury, practically empty. In the preparation and passage of 
all these measures Judge Kelley's brain and pen bore a 
conspicuous part. He was then in the vigor of his manhood 
and the zenith of his intellectual resources. He came to 
Congress well equipped for the difficult work which a great 
civil war made necessary to be done. His life had been 
spent in mental toil. Books had been his constant compan- 
ions. Few of his associates were as well up in the knowl- 
edge of the country and its resources as he, and few of them 
made their influence so potent in the legislation of the coun- 
try, in devising the means to prosecute the war and supply 
the army with the men and material necessary to make it 
efficient. 

Unhappily for the country, the difficulties which con- 
fronted Congress did not cease with the termination of the 
conflict. The war left a large debt as a part of its inner- 



3<d Address of Mr. Mills, of Texas, on the 

itance. To preserve the public credil means had to be pro- 

vided to meet its annual interest and provide for its gradual 

i : i'M ion. Tlii- conquered States bad to be restored to the 

Union. Their governments tad to be r -ganized. The 

passions and resentments engendered by civil war hai 
allayed, wounds had to be soothed and healed, and the peo- 
ple who had been belligerents had to be reunited in the same 
( 1-overnment. The problem was tilled with difficulties to the 
brim, and it required for its solution more than ordinary 
esmanship. 

1' could hardly be a matter of surprise thai mistakes were 
made, and mistakes which it would have required extraordi- 
nary wisdom and extraordinary virtue and extraordinary 
leaders to have avoided. They were such as were common 

among the English-speaking i pie in the hour of triumph 

over their revolted kinsmen. The terms of restoration were 
harsh, and t lie manner of their enforcement still harsher. 
The rehabilitation, both political and social, would have been 
more quickly and more easily accomplished if the hand that 
wielded the power had been more softly gloved. 

Wiser and more desirable as the milder course would have 
been, yet in the light of t he e\ peri, Mice of other peoples simi- 
y situated who had fallen under the edge of the sword, 
it was n.it to be expected. It require.] time after the storm 
had stilled for the billows to cease to roll and break overthe 
surface of the troubled waters. The lawless surges when 
thej loll do not consider natural or political rights, but swi i p 
wildly over everything in their course. 

In recalling the history of reconstruction I do not do so in 
any spii unplaint. It was one of the inevitable results 

of civil war, and while it might have been made a brighter 

period in our history, yet it might have 1 n made on the 

other hand infinitely darker. When all those now living are 



Life and Character of II 'illiani D. Kelley. 31 

sleeping in their graves, and the generate >ns yet in the womb 
shall have come into being and occupied our places ; when 
all hate and resentment left as inheritance from the struggle 
shall sleep the sleep that knows no breaking, then our chil- 
dren and children's children will point with pride to the fact, 
as it will stand recorded in the annals of their country, that 
but a few years after the struggle the distinguished chief- 
tains that led the opposing armies in the field and the states- 
man that directed the counsels of the opposing governments 
sat together in the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the restored Union and of a re-united people. 

Perhaps in scanning the pages of the records of the House 
they will feel a thrill of pleasure when they see that its mem- 
bership was assembled in its Hall on the 15th of March, 1 89i I, 
to render funeral honors to one of the most distinguished 
statesmen of the Union; one whose hand had steadied the 
helm when the ship of state, in the convulsion of the c< in- 
flict, was riding out the storm and slowly but surely coming 
into the harbor of safety ; that more than one hundred of 
those that stood about his bier had borne arms against the 
Government when the terrible conflict was on, and now, 
when it was over and ended forever, were as ready and as 
willing, if occasion required, to devote life and fortune to 
the service of the Union. 

The party to which Judge Kelley belonged and of which 
he was a distinguished leader was in possession of the Gov- 
ernment and charged with the responsibilities of all legis- 
lation affecting the reconstruction and restoration of the 
revolted States. In all its plans and policies I have no doubt 
he fully concurred, feeling that it was the course which pru- 
dence dictated as the wisest and best ; but it may be said to 
his credit that he did not feel constrained on every occasion 
to add to the harshness of the measures by railing accusa- 



32 Address oj Mr. Mills, oj Texts, on the 

tions thrown in the facesof the people upon whom they were 
to be enforced. 

This to them will be a bright spot in his memory and one 
which they will recall with grateful feelings. He was not 
revengeful in his nature. Hate and resentmenl found no 
resting-place in his heart. Thank God, the hearts in which 
they still live are lessening in number day by day. and it is 
fervently hoped that the day is nol distant when they shall 

wholly disappear, and from one end of the Republic to the 
other we shall feel the ties of fraternal affection binding us 
together in one indissoluble bond of family union. 

During the Long period of my service with Judge Kki.i.kv 
here 1 am glad t<> say that I can let recall an instance in 
this House or out of it where he ever uttered cruel or unkind 
words of the people among whom 1 live. Throughoul his 
whole public life he was the advocate and defender of meas- 
ures directly opposite t.> everything they held dear t" them. 
He opposed slavery, and never for one moment lei his oppo- 
sition sleep. He urged its abolition. He favored the en- 
franchisement ofthenegro. He supported all themeasures 
he thought were necessary to secure these ends, but in doing 
v.. he taughl a lesson others might learn, thai one could sup- 
port harsh measures without using harsh words. He knew 
how to he -,'\ ere when provoked. X" man had better com- 
mand of vigorous English than he. His abstaining from 
its use was not from want of capacity but from want of 
inclination. 

» During his public life he spoke and wp.t i all tie- greal 

questions 1 b i before < longress, hut he will be especially 

remembered for his able advocacy of the restriction of for- 
eign commerce and the protection of American manufactures 
against foreign competition. This was tic thought that 
never slepl in his brain. It accompanied him wherever he 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 33 

went and only left him when the lamp of life had burned 
down into the ashes of old age and was extinguished. He 
believed in it with all his heart. He accepted without reser- 
vation all the articles of faith embraced in its creed. To 
study it in all its phases and to support it in all its conflicts 
was to him a labor of love. He investigated it at home and 
abroad, and felt convinced that he could trace its results in 
home and foreign industrial development. 

Everything he saw or heard or read was turned toward 
his favorite theory. It would be difficult to find anywhere 
another who had gathered so large a store of information 
about every branch of manufactures. He knew the mate- 
rials entering into the manufacture of a great number of 
products, and the different processes they passed through 
in coming to the finished article. He was not only familiar 
with the tariff history of his own country, but of that of other 
commercial countries. He was a man of extensive reading, 
of good memory, of well-disciplined mind, and a high order 
of ability. To these he added the accomplishments obtained 
by travel in foreign lands and familiar acquaintance with 
the character, habits, and business of foreign peoples. 

My acquaintance with Judge Kelley began in the Forty- 
third Congress. He was then an able and aggressive de- 
bater, and stood easily among the ablest and best in the 
House. In his later yeai's the infirmities of age and the de- 
pressing effects of disease made him averse to the struggles 
of the intellectual arena. As age and the feebleness thai 
follows in its train grew upon him he became a silent mem- 
ber, rarely participating in debate, and confining his Legis- 
lative work to casting his vote for such measures as met the 
approval of his judgment. 

His work is now done. The trust which he kepi so long is 
ended. The office which he filled for so many years and 
H. Mis. 229—3 



34 Address of Mr. Mills, of Texas, on the 

with so much distinction returns to his constituency, 
body tn the dust from which it sprang, and his spirit to the 

I who gave it. All that is mortal of William I >. Kkli.kv 
qow peacefully sleeps in the midst of those whom he served 
. and whose will and opinions he so faithfully repre- 
ed. 

Representative his continuous service surpassed thai 
of any other member of the Eouse from the organization of 
the hody. I have served with him renteen 

years. Eight years of that time we have been members of 
the same committer, ami during all the time of our long 

[uaintance on terms of uninterrupted personal friendship. 
In polities we wen- opposites, but differences in political 

■lions were fought out in the political arena and never dis- 
turbed our social relations. We have often spoken of his 

g service in the Ho ise. Some years ago I said to him 
that 1 supposed that no member of the House had served 
as Long as he had. He replied that he had thought so him- 
self, but on investigat ing the subject he found that Nathaniel 
Mi on, of North ( larolina, was ahead of him. 

M r. Mao m "■ as elected to the House for fourteen consecu- 
tive terms, but before he had served out the twenty-seventh 
year he was chosen a Senator and continued his long sen 
in the other branch of I Judge Ivelley lived to 

pass the term of three-score and ten allotted to man and to 

beyond the long period of service here by the illustrious 
citizen of North Carolina. The rolls of the House show that 
of the thousands oi R who have served in the 

House only Kkli.kv. Macon, and Cox, among the dead, and 
I! mdall. ( )'Xeill. and Hoi man. among the living, have ! 
that high honor for a quarter of a century. 

longlifeof Judge Kkli.kv was full of public service 
and public honors. Throughout the whole period of hia 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 35 

public career lie enjoyed tlie unshaken confidence and affec- 
tion of the people among whom he lived and for whom he 
labored so zealously and so long. And now, when life's fit- 
ful fever is over, like a tired laborer after a long day's toil, 
he returns to his home in the gathering shadows of the even T 
ing, and lies down to quiet and peaceful slumbers. 



ADDRESS OF MR. MCKINLEY, OF OHIO. 

Mr. Speaker : I can not refrain from claiming for a mo- 
ment or two the attention of the House to bring my tribute 
of respect and affection to my old friend, for whom living I 
had the most affectionate regard and whose death takes from 
all of us an honorable associate, a wise counselor, and from 
some of us a very close and dear friend. I first met Judge 
Kelley in the Forty-fifth Congress. In the following Con- 
gress I was associated with him on the Committee on Ways 
and Means, and from that time until the close of the last 
Congress I served with that distinguished statesman on the 
committee to which he devoted so much of the labor of his 
life, and with whose business, for almost a quarter of a cen- 
tury, he will be always remembered. 

No 'eulogy which I will speak can do justice to the noble 
life which has closed. His life-work is his highest eulogy; 
what he wr< night for his fellow-men and the impress he made 
upon the legislation of the country will be his best and most 
enduring memorial. That which most impressed me in my 
long acquaintance with him was his thoroughness, his in- 
dustry, his capacity for work, his sturdy integrity, his wide 
range of information. Every subject he touched he became 
master of. Not content with scratching the crust merely, he 



36 Address of Mr. McKinley, of Ohio, on tin 

penetrated the strata and foundation, and Ms public speeches 
and contributions to magazines evidenced a grasp of the sub- 
jects he was considering which i'i'\\ men possess. Bewa 
great studenl and did his work with method, and therefore 
with dispatch. The Long hours he gave to his public duties, 
to the critical investigation of the questions with whichhe 
was charged as a member of the House, will never be known, 
and they told awfully upon his strength. His work in his 
committee was of the mosl Laborious character; the days 
were too short, and the nights which should have been given 
to rest were exacted by the stern demands of duties placed 
upon him. 

His intellectual resi >urces were almost without limit. His 
knowledge of e< . financial, and scientific questions 

was \a-t and comprehensive. He was ao1 only a reader of 

l ks and of current literature, but a keen and intelligent 

observer of forces, of causes, and events. Scarcely a sub- 
ject could be discussed with which he was aol familiar and 
which was not illuminated from his store-house of knowl- 
edge. His work in the Forty-seventh Congress as chair- 
man of the Committee on Ways ami Means so drained his 
vital fon bob< the beginning of that physical impair- 

ment which ended in his death. It was a fearful draught 
upon his strength. 

As a student and master <'\' polit ical economy he was prob- 
ably without a superior in the present generation, and as 
the advocate of the doctrine of protection he was for twenty 
its the unquestioned leader: always in the very front 
rank and on the extreme outpost. He was devoted to the 
principle, because it was a conviction with him. and because 
he believed i1 would best subserve the interests of his fellow- 
citizens and secure the highest prosperity of his country. 
His name in thai field of public duty will pass into history 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 37 

linked with the name of that other great protectionist, 
Henry Clay. 

As an orator, at his hest he was powerful and persuasive. 
His voice was full and musical, his sentences clear and rhe- 
torical, his information and illustration striking and force- 
ful. I recall some of his speeches in this Hall as the most 
impressive I have ever listened to ; and whether on this 
floor or on the hustings, where vast crowds delighted to 
greet him, he carried his audiences by the irresistible force 
of his logic and the fervor of his eloquence. 

He was an honest man, and that after all counts most and 
is best. Never did suspicion even fasten upon him — he was 
above it. For thirty years in public life, a member of the 
House of Representatives during the war, with its waste 
and destruction, followed by doubtful schemes and wild 
speculations ; called upon as he was to deal with great 
public and private interests and much of the time in touch 
and control of legislation which affected vast enterprises, 
while others fell before the temptations of the hour, he 
passed through all unscathed and unsullied, uncorrupted 
and incorruptible, and leaves to his family and friends and 
his countrymen that highest of all honorable titles, an 
honest man. 

He had a wonderful hold upon the people and upon his 
immediate constituency. For thirty years he represented 
the same district ; fifteen times in succession he was returned 
to this House by an intelligent and discriminating constit- 
uency, and while not at all times in accord upon every public 
question with those he represented, such confidence did his 
people have in his honesty and capacity and usefulness that 
they would elect no other Representative to displace him. 
This was a rare distinction, given, I believe, to no other 
man of the present or past, no other statesman living or 



38 Address 0/ Mr. Bingham, of Pennsylvania, on tlie 

dead ; and at the 1 ras more firmly intrenched in the 

respect and affection of his people than at any other period 
of his cari 1 r. 

He devoted his whole life, his vigorous youth, his mat 
manhood, ami his declining strength ami energy to thepub- 

irvice, and his aamewill be associated with the gr< 
c\ ents of our national history. That public which la' served 
so well owe him a debt which it can never repay. Men of 
all classes and condil ions turned to him as their friend, and 
lie served t hem faithfully and well. We shall miss him from 
th( se halls. We have already missed him. 

We will honor him most by emulating his many virtues. 



ADDRESS OF MR. BINGHAM, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Mr. SPEAKER: Ho who took the harp of the North from 
"the witch elm that shades St. Fillan's Spring" has gone 
to sleep beneath "the pillared arches" and there is none left 
to wake the echoes of the vanished strain-. 

In the death of William Darrah K ki.i.kv there passed 
away to join the unreturning caravan, "to where, beyond 
these voices, there is rest,"jioi only one of the most distin- 
guished members of out- body, but one of the most conspic- 
ls figures that have stood in public life as a subject of 
popular attention during the last half of this eventful cen- 
tury. 

Although his life was lustrous with grand achievem 
and his career masterful and almost matchless, it is not my 
purpose to review it in detail. His aoble characteristics, 
his unremitting labor and tireless toil, a life-work rounded, 
are better perpetuated in the lasting annals of our Gov- 
ernment than I could preserve them in the most glowing 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 39 

rhetoric that faithful friendship could inspire or intimate 
association dictate. 

Judge Kelley ^as in public life and wearing the deserved 
emblems of an honored position ere I had passed "the dreams 
of childhood days. " He had conquered more than the ordi- 
nary obstacles of life ere I had mastered the common books 
of school-boy days. He had won grand triumphs ere many 
of us had put on the armor of warfare. He had abandoned 
a distinguished office ere many whom I address bad aspired 
to the responsibilities of public avocation. 

I might well say of him, as the celebrated Talon said of the 
still more celebrated D'Augesseau on hearing his first speech 
at the bar, ' ' I would willingly end as that young man com- 
menced." 

He was of an ambitious, heroic, rugged, stern, and ag- 
gressive mold of character. ' ' He wore the white flower of 
a blameless life," while but few roses made glad or marked 
his pathway of duty. 

He preferred to sow with the sowers rather than luxuriate 
with the harvesters. He preferred to march with the 
plodding phalanx rather than rejoice with the happy 
victors. He had the courage to encounter the most valiant 
gladiators of the arena, and the ability to vanquish the 
grandest champions of the forum. With his native ability 
and his natural attributes it were impossible for him to be 
the inert observer when he had the opportunity of becoming 
the aggressive actor. He was by his rich endowments, 
laborious training, and full learning, ''the law's whole 
thunder born to wield. " 

But his restless genius and wise ambition prompted him 
to seek for greater laurels in wider fields. He was restless 
xxnder the quiet duties which the functions of judicial life 
imposed. He doffed the spotless ermine, the noblest emblem 



40 Address of Mr. Bingham, of Pennsylvania, on the 

that pertains to the dignified domain of jurisprudence, to 
don the buckler and contend for the more uncertain chap] 
thai crown the varied achievements of honorable statesman- 
ship. He passed from the forum of the bar to the halls of 
Legislation and, omniurn asst nsu, became the bead and fronl 
of those who professed to comprehend ai rol the legis- 

lation which involved the political economy of our Govern- 
ment. 

The reputation he made in this field of strife and labor 
will survive untarnished by time as a lasting tribute to his 
memory and a living guide for his successors. He has hung 
along the highways of legislation no dim, nickering, or un- 
certain lights. His protracted experiences, Large infon 
tion, and tireless industry have and will illumine the paths 
he has traced for generations to come. They will ever exist 
a- tin' tested and reliable Pharos on the shores of the domain 
of Legislation to point the inexperienced wayfarer, and pilot 
even those who have encountered the shoals and quicksands 
that endanger the mariner on the sea of political life. He 
appreciated the full measure of public duty and official 

elity. He realized the uieat weight of every burden he 
had to hear. He shirked an peril, evaded no hazard, i 
cumvented no risk in the line of duty and province of 
obligation, hut conscientiously wore the insignia of appoinl 
avocation, fearless of confronting obstacles, daring in re- 
sources, and hopeful in favorable results. 

Let no impulsive flattery paint pictures to tint virtues, to 
mask Lnfirmitie o worth. But let us here in 

this Hall, where to all his face and form were so familiar. 
with bowed heads and reverent hearts, do full justice to the 
memory of one who has tilled no small space in the world's 

historj and who everywhere and under all circumstances, 
regardlessof personal biasor partisan prejudice, has invoked 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 41 

by his illustrious and pre-eminent record the homage of the 
faithful, the gratitude of the generation, and the tears of the 
loving to embalm a character that may well be our cloud by 
day and pillar of lire by night. He has passed to I he sleep that 
kin >ws no awakening, and to the dreamless rest that furnishes 
no heralds. As he came from the unknown so he has 
journeyed to the inscrutable, playing his common part in 
the act of humanity which the great Jehovah permits in our 
brief earthly sojourn, which is but a flash of light between 
two great darknesses, the whence and the whither. 



ADDRESS OF MR. WILSON, OF WEST VIRGINIA. 

Mr. Speaker: I shall not attempt to rehearse the life of 
Judge Kelley or to present an estimate of his services as 
legislator and statesman. Siich a review and such an esti- 
mate come more appropriately and with far more authority 
from those who served longer with him in this House, or 
who were brought nearer to him in their service than my- 
self. Indeed, I can not claim to have enjoyed more than 
the formal acquaintance that grows out of membership of 
the same body, until I found myself, at the beginning of the 
last Congress, seated just opposite to him at the table of the 
Committee on Ways and Means. That association, or per- 
haps I should with more accuracy say that opposition, which 
brought us into constant antagonism in the work of the 
committee and in our views of the great public questions 
that occupied so much of the time of the Fiftieth Congress, 
gave rise, as frequently happens in this House, to a cordial 
and pleasant friendship that was never checked or strai ned 
by these open and avowed differences of political opinion. 

In a large body like this, where the two parties not only 



42 Address of Mr. Wilson, of West Virginia, on the 

sit widely aparl bul in semi-hostile array, close social inter- 
mingling is the exception rather than the rule. The free 
and intimate tion of the committees, where mosl of 

tlic real work of Legislation is done, plays a needed and use- 
ful part in tempering the asperities of partisan conflict and 
of individual an m. 

Such close contact, even fur a single Congress, is a tesl 
thai '-I'tt Irs forever our estimate of colleagues and opponents 
ami sets in uncha i olors our feelings toward them. 

[f it occa ionalb confirms and hardens previous dislikes, 
it mi less frequently replaces prejudice with warm and un- 
fading friendship. I esteem it, Mr. Speaker, one of the most 
precious fruits of service here thai 1 have garnered from my 
committee associations friendships which political concord 
does in >t enhance and political antagonism can no1 mar or 
destroy. It is to the memory of such a friendship thai L 
bring a very humble bu1 a vrv sincere tribute to-day. 

From the beginning of my acquaintance with Judge Kel- 
lky he was an interesting personage to me. His. name had 
been a prominenl one in the proceedings of Congress from 
my earliest knowledge of those proceedings. He had been 
an actor, in' at least the intimate associate of actors, in all 
the recent political history of the country. 

However much advancing years and waning health had 
sapped the strength of the old warrior and compelled him, 
most reluctantly as all could see. to resign to J OUnger hands 
tlie Leadership of hat ties he had so long gloried in fighting, 
they had not tamed his ardor for the fray nor had they 
clouded his memory of the past: and to hear him discourse 
of that pa-t was like seeking history from its fountain-head. 

onewhohad seen it all ami his full share of it had per- 
formed. 
It was in such recitals as these that a younger colleague 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 43 

like myself was wont to engage him, nothing loath, and in 
these recitals to see the kindly and genial side of a man ha- 
bitually serious if not severe, who in the contests of the 
House used weapons on which there were no foils. 

But. Mr. Speaker, it is not fitting that I should merely 
commemorate my own personal acquaintance with Judge 
Kelley. He was not only a leading and well-known actor 
in the debates and proceedings of this House; he had for 
years past been a unique and interesting figure as one who 
had enjoyed a. longer period of consecutive service than any 
1 it her member here. To have served for nearly one-third of 
the life of the Republic, to have received fifteen successive 
elections from the same people, was enough to have given 
him a prominence had he been in himself but a minor char- 
acter and an obscure personage in our proceedings. 

And no one, Mr. Speaker, will venture to assert that he 
owed this long service and this unwavering support of a sin- 
gle constituency to any servitude to a political machine, to 
any skill in political arts and management, still less by vir- 
tue of being what is unhappily becoming a somewhat famil- 
iar character in current politics, a party "boss." He held 
his seat upon the honorable terms of being the representa- 
tive of definite and well-known political ideas, which he was 
always ready to maintain, to defend, and to propagate, and 
which his political opponents thought he was only too suc- 
cessful in embodying into the laws and the fiscal policies of 
the country. In the advocacy of these ideas lie represented 
undoubtedly, the prevailing sentiment of his constituents, 
and they, having full confidence in his able and unswerving 
devotion to these ideas and in the purity and virtues of his 
private character, did not attempt in hamper, control, or 
criticise him as to his views and his action on other public 
questions. 



44 Address of Mr. Wilson, of West Virginia^ on the 

Public service on such terms is an honor and a privilege 
so rare as to be coveted and to !»• held up to general com- 
mendation, for it is the only kind of public service thai can 
produce statesmen or be highly promotive of t lie common 
wt'lt'mv. We often witness the sudden and permanent dis- 
appearance t'r.>m our legislative hails of msn who are the 
ornaments of their parties and able, judicious public serv- 
ants, because in some minor or unimportant question they 
have offended the whims, run counter to the private in- 
terests, or disregarded the unenlightened views of em. ugh. 
of their constituents to make : , balance of power in a elose 
district, while the main body of their constituents, and even 
the country at Large, may bewail their disappearance as a 
public loss. 

[n other countries having the representative system new 
constituencies are always ready and eager to take up such 
men and to continue them in the public service ; bul with us 
the highest ability, statesmanship, and merit are no1 a hie to 
lift a citizen into our Legislative Hall if a majority of the 
people of the particular district in which he happens to re- 
do uoi agree with him in all his political views. A gr 
British statesman, dm' whose memory America delights to 
honor as sincerely as his native land, when importuned by 
his constituents to follow their wishes in a minor matter as 
tin condition <>f their continued support, uttered these noble 
words: 

I should only disgrace myself, [should lose the only thing which can 
make such abilities a- mine of anj use to 1 1 1« • world, novi or hereafter. I 
mean that authority which is derived from the opinion thai a member 
s|«aks the language of truth ami sincerity, and thai lie is not ready to 
take up or lay down a great political system tor the convenience of an 
hour; that he is in Parliament to support his opinion of the public good, 
and does not form hi-- opinion in order to get into Parliament or to con- 
tinue in it. 



Life and Character of William D. Keller. 45 

The city of Bristol, not willing to allow Mr. Burke this 
honorable freedom, lost his services and passed over to an- 
other and nobler constituency the honor of being represented 
by so great a man. 

The city of Philadelphia, or rather that section of it which 
he represented, was not so intolerant with Judge Kelley, 
and having found him a faithful servant, enjoyed for the 
remainder of his life his able services and the distinction of 
being represented by one of the best-known and most posi- 
tive men in the Federal Congress. 

Well, indeed, would it be if such instances were less rare 
than we must confess them to be ; well, indeed, for the pub- 
lic and the highest welfare of the country, if the oath of 
office to be taken and faithfully and honestly to be observed 
by the members of both Houses of Congress were like that 
which an old historian tells us was prescribed in 1621 for 
members of the council of the colony of Virginia : 

You shall iii all things to be moved, treated, and debated in that coun- 
cil, faithfully and truly declare your mind and opinion according to your 
heart and conscience. 

It was doubtless the spirit of this oath that guided and 
illustrated the long public career of Judge Kelley. All 
honor to the generous and wise constituency that left him 
free to its guidance. All honor to the faithful servant who 
held and was willing to hold their commission upon no other 
terms. Having said this of Judge Kelley, it is not neces- 
sary that I should make a catalogue of his virtues or attempt 
an inventory of his deeds. 



46 Address of Mr. Cannon, of Illinois, on the 



Address of Mr. Cannon, of Illinois. 

Mr. Speaker: William D. Kkllly was a force in the 
country. He stood for an economic policy which affected 
the opinions of men, controlled their action, and in its opera- 
tion reached the material interests of the citizen on the farm 
and in the factory, in tin- mini' ami in the foresl in the marts 
of trade, everywhere throughoul the countrj where men 
followed gainful employment. Under all circumstances, at 
all times, in all places, he was true to Lis convictions as tin- 
needle to I be pole. 

Mr. Kkllkv was iii his fifteenth term of continuous serv- 
ice in the House at tin' time of his decease, a length of 1 
tinuous service rarely accorded to any man in Cong 

tally in the popular hody. I firsl made his acquaintance 
during tin- Forty-third Congress. II'' was then the Father 
of the House, and so remained until bis decease. Serving 
with him for so many years, ami belonging t" the same 
political organization, I saw much of him. fell that I was 
well acquainted with him. believed that I had hi 
as he had mine, as well as my admiration, lie was ;it that 
time bul little pasl the meridian; always strong mentally, 
as then strong physically. It was his fortune to serve 
iod in the bistorj of the country, measuring 
time by events, thai lengthened his actual service of over 
twenty-eigh! years into a century. 

During his service he measured arms and touched elbows 
with perhaps the greatest number of strong men thai have 
been in public life in the same length of time during the 
existence of the Republic. The House of Representatives, 



Life and Character of William D. Keller. 47 

at all times made up in the main of the picked men of the 
country, was never stronger continuously than during his 
service. There were Sherman, Stevens, Banks, the two 
Hoars, Butler, Farnsworth, Bingham, McCrary, Blaine, 
Colfax, Garfield, Kerr, Beck, Hewitt, Potter, Cos, Lamar. 
Bandall, Morrison, Dawes, Shellabarger, and a host of 
others, veritable giants in the land, who placed the marks 
of their individuality, wisdom, and patriotism in the warp 
and woof which was woven into the history of the country. 
William D. Kelley stood during his long service the peer 
of his colleagues. No man could so stand at such a period 
and with men of such stature without having great strength, 
merit, and industry. He had all of these. 

Nature did much for him. Industry, care, preparation did 
more. He rarely discussed public questions without the 
most exhaustive preparation. In his chosen specialty his 
speeches and sayings became the text-books in popular 
discussion of the school to which he belonged. I talked 
with him many times about his service in the House. He 
was especially proud of his constituency and of its approval, 
as evidenced by his long service. He believed in his country 
and its institutions, and held that Philadelphia was the 
typical American city. He gloried in' her history, pros- 
perity, and culture. It was especially a matter of pride to 
him that her artisans owned their own homes, and that her 
system of common schools was such that all the children 
received a liberal instruction and training. He believed that 
the economic system of which he was so consistent an ad- 
vocate was the foundation upon which the prosperity of the 
great mass of people secui-ely rested. 

I will not speak further of his public record. It needs no 
commendation from me. It is written in the march of the 
industrial prosperity of the Republic. Mistaken he may 



48 Address of Mr. ( annon, of Illinois, on the 

have been al times; sincere be always was. Vf\v men in 
public lit''- so rarely made mistakes. 

In social life he was courteous, affable, bright. I have 
rarely mel so companionable a man. For the last ten years 
of his life he had a constanl conflict with disease, which, 
with age coming on, he was less able year after year to fight. 
Only his close friends knew bow bravely he made the cot 
for life. He was a man who never complained or whined. 
He frequently expressed a desire to die in the harness. He 
died in the barness. 

It was my privilege to be designated by the House as one 
of those who helped to bury his remains. We took all that 
was left of William 1). Kelley after life departed to the 
modes! church in his loved city, where in life he had wor- 
shiped. Standing al the bead of the casket containing his 
us. his friend and pastor, I>r. Furness, himself full of 
years and almost ready to put his armor off, paid the 
touching tribute to the memorj of his dead friend and 
parishioner thai it has ever been my fortune to bear. We 
then proceeded to the beautiful cemetery of Laurel Hill and 
laid him to sleep amongst friends and loved ones who had 
gone before. 

As I stood over his grave T said his life was a success. 

Comparatively 1 r in property, yel be had enough for 

comfort. In this respecl he was above want and below 
envy. The loved ours and children who survived him, 
strong, vigorous, and willing to work honorably in life's 
contest, are rich in the heritage of a name made honorable 
in efficient service to the state. May the Republic in future 
be blessed by increasing numbers of public servants of the 
type of William D. Kellei ! 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 49 



ADDRESS OF MR. MCKENNA, OF CALIFORNIA. 

Mr. Speaker: In the solemn ritual for the dead it is an- 
nounced to the living that man's life is three-score years and 
ten. and some by special strength may attain four-score 
years. Judge Kelley had almost that special strength 
lived almost four-score years. But better, the strength he 
had was exerted for his country — the years he lived were 
filled with merit and distinction, impressing "the very age 
and body of the time." 

Such lives supersede praise. We can recount their acts. 
It is useless eulogy to extol them. To summarize Judge Kel- 
ley's life would be to summarize the greatest period of his 
country's history. He was a potent factor in it. always in 
the front rank of men, a peer of the acknowledge. I str< nigest. 
Yet he was not " fortune's minion.*' His youth was one of 
responsibility and toil his whole lit'' one <>f unwearied 
industry. He was a jeweler's apprentice in Philadelphia 
from his fourteenth to his twentieth year. He had no edu- 
cation and was debarred from the schools. It would not 
have been unnatural if he had remained in routine drudgery 
and mere bread-winning. His aspiring spirit could not lie 
so restrained. His strength and distinctiveness of charac- 
ter could not be obscured or subdued by any situation or 
circumstance. For study, he plucked time from the night; 
for books, he organized with some companions the Youth's 
Library, afterwards the Pennsylvania Literary Institute. 
Such men help us when they help themselves: from them 
issue and grow institutions — instrumentalities of g 1. 

He was a journeyman jeweler in Boston, and there, while 
faithful to his manual work, his ability strengthened and 
H. Mis. ■!■!'.) i 



50 Address of Mr. Mcgcnna, of California, on ///<• 

took form, and his biographer tells us he was associated in 

i v than one programme of lectures with Charming and 

Emerson, then ascending to the zenith of a deserved tame. 
Back again to Philadelphia, he there becomes a lawyer, and 
t hereafter, forgetting or overlooking his humble commence- 
ment as he ascends to and achieves fame, we think of him 
and speak of him as jurist, legislator, and statesman. 

He was always a politician, bul a politician in the besl 
sense of that much-abused word. Politics engaged al once 
his energies and his sympathies. In them he had to do with 
mankind and for mankind. lie was a natural leader besides. 
lie was confidenl in opinion and vehement ; bul his reason- 
ing was (dear, consecutive, and proportioned. His physical 
characteristics assisted his mental characteristics. He was 
tall and impressive looking, his voice was full, deep, sono- 
rous, and musical, flexible to every purpose of persuasion, 
exhortation, and command. 

In my boj li 1 days, in my home in Philadelphia, I heard 

Judge K r.i.i.i'.v spoken of. In my manhood, in the distant 
West, I watched and applauded his fame as it became na- 
tional. I hav Keen his associate iii Congress, and have 
witnessed the close of his noble and distinguished career — 
noble, because its impulse and purpose was patriotic; dis- 
tinguished, because greal qualities were displayed in it and 

I accomplished by it. He died a representativi 

the Republic; he died in the country's service. 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 5i 



Address of Mr. Reilly, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Speaker: The very able, eloquent, and exhaustive 
tributes that have been paid to the memory and life of our 
departed colleague by the distinguished gentlemen who 
have preceded me, as well as the lateness of the hour, ad- 
monish me that I ought not to further trench upon the time 
of the House by indulging in any extended remarks, and 
that there is no necessity for it. 

Besides, the public career of Judge Kelley is so well 
known, not only to the people of his own State whom lie 
served so long and well, but to the people of the entire 
country, that, as has been so aptly said by the distinguished 
gentleman from Ohio [Mr. McKinley]. his life-work consti- 
tutes in itself his highest eulogy. 

I first became personally acquainted with the late Judge 
Kelley at the opening of the Forty-fourth Congress, since 
which time, although differing with him politically, our 
personal relations have been more or less intimate, and at 
all times and under all circumstances, in common with his 
fellow-citizens, not only of our native State, which I have 
the honor in part to represent on this floor, but with Ins 
fellow-citizens throughout the country, have joined in ad- 
miration of his illustrious career and of the great services 
he rendered to the country and to the people. 

Mr. Speaker. I can conceive of no greater responsibility 
that can be imposed upon any man than to seat him in this 
Chamber as a legislator for this great and mighty people. 
Under our form of government every other public official 
has a safe, plain landmark, a guide-post by which to direct 
him in the discharge of his public duties. To lie the ( Ihief 



52 Address oj Mr. Reilfy, >>/ Pennsylvania, on the 

Executive of this mighty and free people is an honor thai 
is exalted above any other civic station thai man can be 
called to fill anywhere on the face of the globe; bul greal 
as is the honor and greal as is the responsibility, yel the 
duties of the Chief Magistrate of the nation are bul to ex- 
the Laws of the land as he finds them laid down in the 
statute-books. 

So also with the other co-ordinate branch of the Govern- 
ment, the Judiciary. What more exalted tribunal can the 
imagination conceive than the Supreme Courl of the United 
States, a tribunal in which we expecl to find and look for 
the exercise of those attributes the perfection of which is 
alone to be found in the Deity? A.nd ye1 they bul admin- 
ister the law, they but adjudicate the rights of the citizen 
involving life, liberty, and property, under and according 
to the written law of the land. Bu1 who, Mr. Speaker, who 
shall measure the responsibility of the law-giver; he who 
sits clothed with the greal powerand responsibility of 
lating for the welfare of a free and independent people; he 
who ln>lds in the hollow of his hand, as it were, the destinies 
of a nation to he affected for weal or woe by the action of 
the Legislate e I lepartmenl ? 

I'.nt looking hack over the career of Judge K i.i.i.ky. which 
for more than a quarter of a century had been devoted to 
tin' discharge of those greal duties and to which he bro 
the highesl and mosl conscientious convictions, what nobler 
tribute or greater eulogy, standing over his grave to-day, 
can we find ourselves aide to pronounce than that his life- 
work was well done? 

This can he truthfully said of him, and his eulogy is 

written lei al in his life-work, in the record of hismem- 

bership in this body, hut in the greal sen ice. which he has 
rendered to the country and with which his naine is con- 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 53 

nected, which will go down on the undying pages of history 
as a tribute to his memory, to be appreciated and admired 
by every American citizen. 

Mr. Speaker, a great career has closed; a great statesman 
and patriot lias gone from amidst scenes which will know 
him no more forever. As has been stated. Judge Kelley 
entered upon his career as a legislator on the 4th day of 
July. 1861, at a time when the very life of the nation trem- 
bled in the balance. But he entered upon his ditties with a 
stern sense of duty, and for more than a quarter of a century 
he has ci mtinued therein with the same fidelity, never falter- 
ing or wavering. During the early days of this session we 
lodged at the same hotel. He was then ailing, but able to 
be about, and as I met him daily and inquired as to his 
health, he would answer by a despondent shake of the head 
and say. " Growing weaker and weaker." 

He seemed, Mr. Speaker, to realize that his end was fast 
approaching; but with that spirit of industry and energy 
which characterized his life he made desperate battle. It 
was apparent that the sands of life were nearly run. It was 
his ambition to be called hence from the place where for 
nigh on to thirty years he had so zealously labored. Under 
the dispensation of a, kind Providence he had passed the 
three-score and ten allotted to man, and in the ripeness of 
years, and after devoting the three decades of his mature 
manhood to the service of his country, he calmly passed 
away. Peace to his ashes ! 



54 Address of Mr. Atkinson, of Pennsylvania^ on the 



ADDRESS OF MR. ATKINSON, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Mr. Speaker: He who was the senior in poi irvice 

in this House and firsl in the affections oi his colleagues has 
I away. His venerable form has disappeared from 
our midst . and his voice so familiar to us all has been for- 
ever hushed. A seal loug occupied by the acquiescence of 
his colleagues i- vacant, and a name lias been stricken from 
the roll of living Representatives which has been borne 
thereon for a Longer period than thai of any other who ever 
serv ed in this Hall. 

After a Long life, spent mostly in the service of I hi pi 
of his native city and of this nation. William l». Kli.li^ 
has gone to hisfinal rest. Could he have chosen the cir- 
cumstances of his death they would not have been different. 
Here in the performance of his duty as a Representative, 
surrounded by his family and friends, he gave back I 
Creator the Life which had been given him. Others who 
k],. w him longer will tell of his earlier ran -or. of the quali- 
ties which made him an object of Interest, of respect, and 
veneration; hut I ran not refrain .from stating the impres- 
sions which In- left upon'me during an acquaintance extend- 
ing through more than three terms of Congress. Kind. 
considerate, and genial, he freely advised with me when as 
a new member I sought hi> wise counsel, and he aever 
seemed to weary in placing his time at the disposal of his 
friends or in opening his rich treasure-house of learning for 
their In-! 

Although suffering from a malady which at last ended 
his life, he knew Imi on,- measure ..f duty and lie never left 
it unfulfilled. No important measure was presented to this 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 55 

House that his vote was not recorded upon it, and few great 
problems were presented here that were not illuminated by 
his learning and influenced by his eloquence. 

He entered Congress with the advent of the civil war. and 
for almost thirty years his influence was felt upon this floor. 
A I ways ready, able, and fearless, his convictions were km iwn 
<>t' all men. and his views upon the great questions discussed 
were impressed upon his party, adopted in its councils, and 
indorsed by the country. A student and disciple of Henry 
C. Carey, the principles of the great American political 
economist found no abler advocate; his earnest and tireless 
advocacy of protection placed him foremost among the 
distinguished men who have maintained the duty of devel- 
oping and fostering the industries of the United States. 

No cynical maxim ever fell from his lips. He believed 
and he taught that it was the duty of the Government to 
support the people in their business enterprises, to aid them 
in developing the marvelous resources of this our common 
country, and to shield them from foreign industrial assaults. 
A friend of the working-man, he never ceased to plead for 
thai policy which he believed would lighten the burdens of 
the toiler and uplift him to the highest and most solid pros- 
perity. 

No sectionalism cloiided his vision, but his comprehensive 
mind contemplated the prosperity of the South as well as the 
North, and no State lines contracted his statesmanship. He 
viewed with honest pride the possibilities of the South under 
the policy of protection, and anticipated the time when the 
vast cotton production of that section should be distributed 
in beautiful fabrics, instead of in a crude form. He con- 
tributed his full share to the growth of the iron interests of 
the South and never ceased to encourage the full develop- 
ment of that section so highly favored by nature. 1 lis clos- 



56 Addrt n oj Mr. Atkinson, of Pennsylvania, on ///< 

ing years saw, if qo1 the full fruition of his hopes, al leasi 
the lighl of thai morning which precedes the advent of the 
greal industrial day thai will bring wealth and activity to 
the business centers of thai portion of our common country. 

He was a man of strong convictions, and hearl and soul a 
Republican. He b lieved in his party and its principles. A 
model of industry, his attention to his legislative duties is 
.-, 11 by the records of the House of Representatives of 
which he was so long a member. Bui the serA ices rendered 
by Judge Kki.i.ky while in office do no1 measure the value 
of his life to the country. His views were impressed upon 
the people by his speeches and his writings and influen 
the action of others upon manj importanl public questions. 

He had outlived detraction, tin- shafts of envy had long 
ago fallen harmless a1 his feet, and opposition to him was 
unthoughl of because it was known to be futile. Against 
him the defamer was powerless, and calumny exhausted her 
resources in vain. 

His long and patriotic career, his rugged honesty and 
unflinching directness of purpose had disarmed enmity, 
and he was one of the few men in public life who lived 
unassailed. He leaves a stainless name and an unblemished 
reputation. 

A living example of purity and devotion i" duty, when 
death came it found him nol unprepared. His career was 
complete, the affection of his countrymen secured; full of 
years ami honors he passed into the night of death to emerge, 
as we believe, into thai shining realm where sorrow ami dark- 
ness are unknown. 

There i> no death ! What seems bo i^ transition ; 

Tin- life et" mortal breath 
Is but a suburb of 1 1 > • - life elyaian, 

Whose portal we call Death. 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 57 



ADDRESS OF MR. BRECKINRIDGE, OF KENTUCKY. 

Mr. Speaker : The greatest of all human arts is the art 
of governing : the noblest of all secular enterprises is the 
experiment of free institutions. Statesmanship requires the 
exercise of the nobler qualities of mankind and elevates and 
dignifies them. It is that single pursuit which, earnestly ami 
honestly and conscientiously followed, gives to every part of 
this.complex nature of oursa chance for its highest develop- 
ment. That a man shall devote his life with unceasing in- 
dustry and ceaseless love for mankind to the well-ordering of 
the greatest free nation that the world has ever seen is the 
very highest pursuit which any man could possibly follow. 

However erroneous may he the opinions of such a man. and 
however he may he mistaken in the policies winch he advo- 
cates, if he did believe those opinions and was convinced of 
the wisdi mi i if t hose policies, his life could not but be fruitful. 
However thoroughly we may disagree in this Hall with our 
colleagues who pass from it to that greater and eternal coun- 
t r\ i 1 1 which we are traveling ; however fierce these contests 
may be (and the measure of their fierceness is frequently the 
truthfulness and intensity of our respective convictions), yet 
we can not but recognize in our hearts that where our oppo- 
nents are honest they deserve our respectful commendation. 

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, there is not so much difference be- 
tween us as we sometimes think. Out of these conflicts, 
which seem to be bitter, emerges that compromise which one 
of the greatest of essayists said was " the wisest statesman- 
ship for the given clay in which it was enacted." These 
differences produce their legitimate fruits; not by the con- 
quest of one side over the other, but by the concessions thai 
are made that legislation may become practical. And. per- 



58 Address of Mr. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, on the 

haps, the besl evidence of thegrowth of ;i free people is thai 
<>ut of these conflicts of the pasl have grown compromises, 
where neither side feels thai defeal has been his portion, and 
where the v ictorious side may feel that the victory thai is ac- 
complished has to be maintained by concessions in the future. 

Judge Kelley's life was singularly fortunate in the ap- 
parent victory which his policies met. Be was an intense 
anti-slavery man. He lived to see slavery abolished; the 
negro nol only freed, but a voter. Yet, who can say thai the 
end lias been reached; for it bul changed the relations ofthe 
and the conditions of the problem; and thai very vic- 
tory has lefl the mosl momentous question, nol only in the 
South but in other States, that the future has for our chil- 
dren to answer. Judge Kki.u'.y believed in the doctrine of 
protection, and advocated it through a series of years, not 
only with entire persistency, bul with unusual and con 
nous ability. 

He died soon after a national victory based upon a plat- 
form of the greal party of which he was our of the leaders, 
more nearly in accordance with his extreme views than any 
platform ever adopted in America. He died after the or- 
ganization of a Congress organized in consonance with his 
opinions, and the chief committee of thai Congress presided 
over by the ablesl scholar and pupil whom he had probably 
had in his Congressional career; and yel who will heboid 
enough to say thai the victory is complete, that there is no 
further battle for the ad if protection? Who will 

say that tin' problems which were in dispute can he solved 
on the principles to which Judge K bllei 's life was devoted? 
In a scum- that is persona] to him his life was a series of vic- 
tories. He was for more than thirty years on the winning 
side. He knew no defeal from the time he was elected to 
( longress until his death. 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 59 

Temporary obscurations in certain sections of the country 
of his party's victories had occurred; but nothing that may 
fairly be culled disaster had ever occurred during his polit- 
ical career to the party of which he was a member. During 
that long period he was the recipient of its honors, and, 
what was dearer to him than mere honors, he was the recip- 
ient of its praises and of its plaudits mitil he became nearly 
the type of its belief and its principles. 

This is a rare fortune to happen to a statesman. My friend 
from Ohio [Mr. McKinley] connected his name this after- 
noon with the name of the great Kentuckian who filled the 
seat that I have been commissioned to sit in — that great, 
illustrious, and majestic leader of men who, in a long and 
illustrious life, met only honor and encountered only defeat. 
This never happened to him whose memory w T e celebrate 
to-day, and in that sunshine of constant victory it is not too 
much to say the qualities of Judge Kelley took on a 
brighter hue and became more vigorous than they might 
otherwise have done. 

We can not estimate the power of development that resides 
in the educational influences of this House, especially to one 
who has gained leadership upon this floor. If Judge Kelley 
had dropped out after four, or six, or even eight years of 
service here he would have been a comparatively obscure 
man; but as he staid here he gained in power; his power 
grew as his reputation extended: and it is a proof of the 
value of service on this floor. 

Philadelphia has not only been generous, Mr. Speaker, 
lint she has been wise. She has not only been a model of 
generous confidence in her public servants, but she has been 
an exemplar of worldly wisdom in her political adherence 
to those who represented her here. Who can estimate how 
much of Philadelphia's wealth, of those greal blocks of 



60 Address oj Mr. FCerr, of Iowa, on the 

buildings, and of thai accumulated capital the evidences 
of which enchanl the eye wherever you go in Philadel- 
phia — \\in> can estimate bow much of thai has come from 
the devoted service, the intelligenl co-operation, the <■ 
stanl fidelity to her interests of those gentlemen whom she 
has kepi iii this Hall for the last quarter of a century or 
more? 

Mr. Kki.u.y and Mr. Randall might fighl aboul other 
things, hut to each of them Philadelphia was the prime 
objecl of affection; and by their efforts, with the aid of their 
colleagues, who have also been kepi here for aearlya quar- 
of a century, whatever could be gotten was gotten for 
Philadelphia. 1 Wo not begrudge it to her. Standing, as 
it were, by the grave of her conspicuous son. hoping tor the 
recovery of her living ami stalwart son who. in his power, 
ha>l the will of Jackson and tin' incorruptibility of the 
honrst public servant. 1 do qo1 begrudge anything that 
has happened of good to Philadelphia. 1 only wish that 

from this day out no1 only may she hut all the country 

have a succession of such faithful public servants, secur- 
ing peace within her borders and prosperity beside her 

tire-ides. 

Address of Mr. Kerr, of low 

Mr. Speaker: I am -lad to he permitted to pay a tribute 
t.i the memory of the distinguished statesman who for so 
many years honored the State of Pennsylvania and the 
whole country by his service in this body. < »f the men who 
were members of this body when that service began only 
three now occupy seats in this Ball the distinguished gen- 
tleman from California [Mr. Vandever], the distinguished 
gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Holman], and the distin- 
guished gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Banks]. 



Life and Character of William D. Kcllcy. 61 

William D. Kelley was a type of the statesmen, more 
common in this country than elsewhere, who have come from 
the ranks of common life and who, by profound study, untir- 
ing energy, and un wavering devotion have been able to secure 
and retain the confidence of the people and thus be enabled 
to imprint their views on the policy of the nation. Thor- 
oughly devoted to the fundamental principles of our Govern- 
ment, an ardent believer in the inalienable rights of man with- 
out regard to race or creed, he became an equally firm believer 
in the doctrine that the preservation and the prestige of our 
system depended on the policy of protection as a means of se- 
curing proper remuneration to labor and of elevating Amer- 
ican character, and in the application of these principles he 
was broad and liberal in his views and rejoiced in the pros- 
perity of his countrymen without regard to State or section. 
I think no man in the country took a greater pride than 
the deceased statesman in the marvelous development that 
in the last few years has transformed the sunny South. 
Few men in this country have ever so fully enjoyed the con- 
fidence of their immediate constituents. The recognized 
Father of the House, he was trusted by his constituents as 
a kind and loving parent is trusted by his children. I bad 
the pleasure in the last session to sit near him and to ob- 
serve with what pleasure he read to the circle around him a 
letter from his home announcing his renomination, coupled 
with the statement that the writer was for William D. 
Kelley for Congressman during his natural life. Those 
of us who had observed how his robust mind contrasted 
with his feeble frame even then feared that his service in 
this body would soon draw to a close, and when we as- 
sembled at the beginning of this session and welcomed the 
kindly old gentleman to these halls, we felt that hovering 
over him was the shadow of impending death. 



62 Address oj Mr. A'</>\ of Iowa, on the 

Perhaps no two men of opposite political views have tad 
greater political influence than the two distinguished men 
whose places have been rendered vacanl since the close of 
last Congress -the distinguished statesman from New York, 
Mr. Cox, and the statesman from Pennsylvania whom we 
mourn to-daj ; and do man on this side of Hie Bousi . as I 
think, has borne a more conspicuous pari in shaping the 
policy of ill is country than our late honored associate. 

I was very much impressed a few weeks since by the 
classic address of the distinguished gentleman from Missis- 
sippi on the occasion of the memorial services in honor of 
t he late ~S\ r. Townshend, of [llinois, in which thai gentleman 
referred to the sentiment of dread with which the human 
soul shrinks from death. But. Mr. Speaker, I think as the 
human mind accepts the grand truths of the Christian faith 
we become more reconciled to this inevitable step in human 
destiny and accepl with a calmness unknown before the 
transition to the great Loving hearl of the [nfinite. 

Death comes at lasl to all. When it strikes down the 
warrior in the full tide of victory, or the statesman in the 
triumph of his ideas, when his theories are in the ascendant, 
when his country is prosperous and triumphant, when he 
in the highest places enthroned in the confidence of the 
people, it soothes the anguish of bereavement. Our friend 
had achieved a high renown, and yel how slighl and un- 
satisfying are all human glories. 

Oh, if there were not brighter hopes than these, 
Were there do palm beyond a feverish fame; 
It joj and hope and all the charities of life 
Musi fling their withered wreaths into the tomb; 
1 1 beyond this earth there i> no heaven 
In whose wide air the spirit maj And room, 
\ihl in the converse of whose bright inhabit 
Tin 1 lavished hearl maj si^inl itself, 
\\ ha! thrice-mocked fools ;irr we. 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 63 

It is only when a well-spent life fades away at evening, 
like that of our friend, in the calm promise of an eternal 
day, when life's fitful fever is over, that we attain the full 
fruition of human hopes and can say with the poet — 

There is no death! The stars go down 

To rise upon some fairer shore 
And bright in heaven"s jeweled crown 

They shine forever more. 



ADDRESS OF MR. REYBURN, OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

Mr. Speaker: A few weeks ago, on a busy street of one 
of our large cities, groups of men were to be seen here and 
1 here coming together with quiet demeanor and strong grasp 
of hand, then separating and entering a low but massive 
structure; inside this a room, the light of heaven softened 
by windows of glass picturing the divine love and goodness 
of the God of all nations; with bowed heads the people 
wait. The strains of gentle music fill the air, a procession 
of the grief-st ricken, clad in habiliments of woe, follow their 
dead; from above, as if from angelic regions, a sweet voice 
is heard chanting forth a song of tender words of consola- 
tion; a man feeble from ripeness of years, but with a noble- 
ness of bearing born of much good doing and the teaching 
men to love one another, speaks words of encouragement 
to the weeping ones of that higher, better, purer life assured 
to mortals through the tender mercy of an all-wise Father 
who gave his only begotten Son that the dead might rise 
again; then gives the assurance to the sorrowing wife ami 
children that though the form lay cold before them he knew 
that, chastened by the struggles and temptations of a stormy 
life such as few men live through, the dead husband and 
father clung to his belief in his God and his Saviour. 



i ] Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 

To the others assembled lie spoke of the more than fifty 
years he had known the dead, and in words eloquent with 
truth, tempered by the softening of time, told of the fierce 
conflicts with the prejudices and passions of men; of the 
battles for principle and humanity: of the shock and horror 
of civil war and the troublesome times thai followed its 
ending; of the strength of will ami mind of the dead one 
before them; the prophetic foresight ; thewise, the patriotic 
protests against the prejudices of old systems; the firm, 
unfaltering belief in the greatness of his native land, its 
progress, and final Leadership in the mighty development 
ng on among the nations of tl arth; then < if the suffer- 
ing, the gradual weakening of the bodily strength, of the 
flashes of the old fire, fitful but deceptive, presaging the 
end, which came easily, peacefully, hushing foreverthe voice 
of the statesman and the citizen, who, born of the people 
and From the people, must live on and whose achievements 
must hear witness in the time toe ime, more eloquently than 
tongues can speak, of the fitness of men to govern them- 
selves. No eulogy of mine can add glory to the luster of 
the name of William l>. Kelley, the statesman, the friend 
we are now called upon to mourn. 

Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker. I move, as 
a further mark of respect to my deceased colleague, the 
Eouse do now adjourn. 

The motion was agreed to; and accordingly (at I o'clock 
and :;."> minutes p. m.) the House adjourned. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



In the Senate of the United States, 

January L3, 1890. 

A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. 
McPherson its Clerk, communicated the resolutions of the 
House of Representatives on the death of Hon. William 
D. Kelley, a Representative from the State of Pennsyl- 
vania. 

The Vice-President laid before the Senate the following 
resolutions of the House of Representatives; which were 
read : 

Resolved, That the House has heard with deep regret and profound sor- 
row of the death of Hon. William D. Kelley, late a Representative 
from the State of Pennsylvania. 

Resolved (in recognition of the long and distinguished term of service 
rendered in tins body by Mr. Kelley. a term the longest in its history, and 
which ha 1 made him for many years the " Father of the House" t. That 
appropriate services beheld in the Hall of the House to-morrow, the 11th 
instant, at 12 o'clock noon. 

Resolved, That a committee of nine inembers of the House, with such 
members of the Senate as may be joined, be appointed to attend the 
funeral at Philadelphia. Pa. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senati 
and transmit a copy of the same to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the 
deceased, the House do now adjourn. 

In accordance with the foregoing, the Speaker announced the ap- 
pointment of Mr. O'Neill, of Pennsylvania: Mr. McKinley, of Ohio: Mr. 
Cannon, of Illinois: Mr. Banks, of Massachusetts; Mr. McKenna, of Cali- 
fornia; Mr. Carlisle, of Kentucky: Mr. Mills, of Texas: Mr. Eolman, of 
Indiana, and Mr. Mutchler, of Pennsylvania. 

H. Mis. 229 5 ,;: > 



66 Proceedings in the Senate on the 

Mi-. Morrill. In the absence of both Senators from Penn- 
sylvania, who, I understand, are in attendance on the funeral 

of the illustrious d asedin Philadelphia, I have been asked 

iffer the resolutions which I send to the desk. 

The Vice-President. The resolutions will be read. 

The Chief Clerk read as rbllows : 

Thai tin- Senate has heard with deep sensibility theannounce- 
iii, nt of ill,- death of Bon. William D. Ki lley, late a member "t the 
House of Representatives from the State of Pennsylvania. 

Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect t" the memory of the 
deceased, tin- Senate il" now adjourn. 

'I'll'- Vice-President. The question is on agreeing to the 

i-i-s.iluti.iii-- which have been read. 

TIm- resolutions were agreed u< unanimously; and (at .'! 
o'clock a 11. 1 35 minutes p. m.) tin- Senate adjourned until t.>- 
morrow, Tuesday, January ll. L890, at r. 1 o'clock meridian. 

In the Senate of the United States, 

May LO, 1890. 
Mr. Cameron. 1 wish to give notice thai on Friday i 
H'.th instant, at 1 o'clock, I shall call up the resolutions 
on the death of ,1 udge Willi wi 1 >. K ei.i.hy. late a member 
of the House of Representatives from the Stat.- of Pennsyl- 
vania, for the purpose of sabmitting remarks thereon. 

In the Senate of iiie United States. 

May L6, 1890. 
Mr. Cameron. Some days since I gave notice thai I should 
call up the resolutions in ivtVivnce to tin- death of Judge 
Ki.i.ij-a to-day. Several Senators have requested thai that 
matter be postponed; therefore 1 withdraw my previous 
md give notice now that 1 -hall call up the resolutions 
on Tuesday nexl at I o'clock. 



Death of William D. Kelley. 67 

In the Senate of the United States, 

May 20, 1890. 
Mr. Cameron. Mr. President 

The Vice-President. The hour of 4 o'clock having ar- 
rived, the pending bill will be laid aside. 

Mr. Cameron. I ask for the reading of the resolutions 
from the House of Representatives in relation to the death 
of the late Hon. William D. Kelley. 

The Vice-President. The resolutions will be read. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the House has heard with deep regret and profound 
sorrow of the death of Hon. William D. Kelley, late a Representative 
from the State of Pennsylvania. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate these resolutions to the Senate, 
and transmit a copy of the same to the family of the deceased. 

Resolved, That as a further mark of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased the House do now adjourn. 

Mr. Cameron. Mr. President. I offer the resolui i< »ns which 
I send to the desk. 

The Vice-President. The resolutions will be read. 

The Chief Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with profound sorrow of the 
death of Hon. William D. Kelley. late a member of the House of 
Representatives from the State of Pennsylvania. 

Resolved, That the business of the Senate be now suspended in order 
that fitting tribute may be paid to his memory. 

Resolved, That as an additional mark of respect the Senate shall, at 
the conclusion of these ceremonies, adjourn. 



68 Address of Mr. ( ameron, of Pennsylvania, on the 



Address of Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania. 

Mr. President: So much has appeared in the press of 
the country concerning Judge Kku.ky that ii is impossible 
on this occasion to do more in the remarks I am aboul to 
make than to repeal much thai has already been said. 

William Darrah Kki.i.i:n was born in the Northern 
Liberties of Philadelphia, April 12, 1814, and at 20 minutes 
past 6 o'clock, in this city, on Thursday, January 9, 1*90, 
be quietly passed away, surrounded by his family ami a few 
friends, having lived a useful life of seventy-six years. 

The ancestry of Judge Kki.i.kv were Irish. His father. 
David Kelley, located in Philadelphia at an early age and 
started in business as a watch-maker and jeweler. He 
married Miss Hannah Darrah. whose ancestors were early 
settler-, on the Neshaminy Creek, in Bucks County. Penn- 

Ivania. After the war of L812 — in 1816 — David Eelley, 

having indorsed the paper of one of his relatives, became 

pecuniarily involved, and was, in consequence thereof, sold 

under the sheriff's hammer, and was thereby bereft of 

the small fortune he had accumulated! Shortly afterwards 
he fell dead on the street, leaving four small children to the 

care of his widow, of whom WILLIAM DARRAH was the 
youngesl and only son, and bul two years old. His mother 
having no means of her own to support her family, kind 
friends gave her some pecuniarj assistance, with which she 
opened a boarding-house. 

In this way the heroic and noble woman, by her skill. 
industry, and indomitable pluck, supported and schooled 
her children. William'- school days, however, terminated 
at the age of eleven, for at this time the circumstances of his 
mother had become such as to compel him to leave school 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 69 

to seek employment, so as to afford her whatever aid he 
could, no matter how small. He first obtained work in a 
lottery office as an errand boy, at a weekly salary of $1. 
Tiring of this, he secured a place in an umbrella-store, but 
being of an ambitious turn of mind, he sought and succeeded 
in getting employment as a copy-holder in the printing es- 
tal ilishment of Jasper Harding, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, 
and it was while employed there, as he always asserted, that 
he acquired that remarkable clearness of articulation which 
was the charm of his oratory through life. 

His last avocation becoming distasteful to him, he left that 
— being now sixteen years of age — and concluded to learn 
his father's trade, and was indentured as an apprentice to the 
firm of Richards & Dubosq, manufacturing jewelers. Ho 
was engaged with them for six years. As he was approach- 
ing manhood he realized that his education was very limited, 
and he at once began to search for knowledge. He spent his 
leisure hours reading, and became a member of debating 
societies, where he made for himself considerable reputation 
as a debater. He associated himself with a number of young 
friends in founding the "Youth's Library," the name of 
which was afterwards changed to the "Pennsylvania Lit- 
erary Institute," and' in time they accumulated several thou- 
sand volumes and instituted an annual course of lectures. 

Here his taste and study for knowledge was gratified be- 
yond his expectations and the foundation was laid for that 
remarkable store of learning which made him so useful to 
his constituents in after life. His specialty in books was 
for those on political and economic questions, for which 
subjects he had a natural and instinctive gift. 

During his apprenticeship the business of the country was 
very much depressed in consequence of the memorable 
quarrel between President Jackson and the United States 



jo Address of Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, on the 

Bank, and in Philadelphia the employers and capitalists 
were almost unanimous for the bank. Young K 1:1.1.1 v took 
sides with the Democratic minority ami -non became a 
noted leader among the apprentices and young Democrats. 

Of course, as mighl have been expected, the result was 
that he. with many others who were too outspoken in their 
opinions, was thrown out of employment. It was a very 
distressing period in tin' history of our countrj . Party war 
raged fiercely and bitterly. Capitalists and employers de- 
I publicly that as the Presidenl was making war upon 
them those whom they employed should take sides with 
them or be I reated as enemies. 

Said the New Fork Tribune: 

Democratic workmen were discharged on all -hies. One instance i< 
narrated where a tailoress was refused work because her brother had spoken 
a 1 .\ Democratic meeting. Petitions for the " restoration of the deposits" 
were circulated, ami workingmen refusin are said to have been 

marked for dischargi 

Young Kku.ky entered the fight with a vigor thai was 
characteristic of him. and so enthusiastic and active was he 
in his efforts that he dissuaded many workmen from attend- 
ing meetings called in the interest of the hank. 

No wonder, therefore, that he found it difficult to obtain 
employment at his trade. However, on tie' revival of 
business in L835, young Kku.ky went to Boston, where a 
former shop-mate had found work and opened a way for 
him. lie secured a good place and he was more prosperous 
there than he had been in Philadelphia. 

lli> specialty was enameling, and his success in it was so 
great that a costly set of gold cups, ordered for the Imatim 
..1' Muscat, broughl his employers a gold medal from the 
Massachusetts Mechanics' Association. 

It v. in bis nature to remain long in seclusion or 

inactive, and an opportunity soon occurred that enabled his 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. ji 

restless spirit to assert itself. The anti-Catholic excitement 
was then at its height in eastern Massachusetts, and as a 
result of the agitation the burning of the convent at Charles- 
town. This was a chance for young Kelley to display his 
ability, and he was not slow to avail himself of it. He at- 
tracted general attention by his fearless and eloquent utter- 
ances at public assemblies, in opposition to what seemed to 
him to be the prevailing prejudices. Possessed of a good 
voice, with perfect articulation and clear enunciation, he 
had no trouble in holding and interesting an audience, and lie 
soon acquired considerable fame as a lecturer and debater. 

At that time it was customary, as it is now. for both po- 
litical parties to hold mass meetings just before the annual 
elections, and it was at one of these meetings in Faneuil 
Hall that Kelley acquitted himself to such an extent that 
his reputation as a speaker was made. It is said of him 
that he was sitting in a corner of the stage, where, although 
not seen, every word of the speakers reached his ear. Har- 
vey Prince, esq., of Salem, an eloquent lawyer, had just con- 
cluded his speech, when, by one of those sudden impulses 
which characterized him in after years, Kelley rushed to 
the front of the stage just as the chairman of the meeting 
was about to introduce United States District Attorney 
Hallett. Every eye in the vast audience was riveted upon 
him, as but few knew who the intruder was. "Who is he?" 
and "Who are you?" was heard on every side, and a sup- 
pressed murmur pervaded the hall. Kelley heard this, 
and straightening himself to his full height, he replied in a 
voice that could be heard by every one in the assemblage: 

Who am I? I will tell you who I am directly. I am an American cit- 
izen, a man who can earn his living by the sweat of his brow and the 

cunning of his good right hand — one who lias, ie to this cradled temple 

of liberty to pledge himself to si cm the tide of time en board the good ship 
Democracy, witli her to swim or with her gloriously to sink. 



72 Address of Mr. Cameron, oj Pennsylvania, on the 

After such an introduction it was no1 surprising that this 
young mechanic should have been frequently sough! to 
speak in public for the purpose of firing enthusiasm into the 
hearts of sluggish and doubtful voters. On several occa- 
sions In' spoke upon the same platform with many distin- 
guished speakers of the state 

after the Faneuil Hall episode Mr. Kki.i.ky was 

dered a place in the Huston |>nst-oflice or in the customs 

service, but : Lined on the ground thai he "did qoI wish 

to give up his Lndependei and individuality and become 

a waiter on t he tide of affairs." 

Such was his promise thai he was advised by some of his 
admirers to seek a scholarship at Harvard, but he refused to 
a< le to 1 heir kindly ad\ ice. 

After remaining in Boston four years he longed for and did 
return to his old home and its associations in Philadelphia, 
where he entered upon the study of the law in the office of Col. 

.lames Page, then a lead inn' lawyer < if t hat city, who was SO 
pleased with the address that Kki.i.ky made at Faneuil Hall 
that he persuaded him to study law under his supervision. 
He began his studies on March 9, L839, and on April \7. 
1841 being then twenty-seven years old— he was, on the 
motion of his friend. Colonel Page, admitted to the Phila- 
delphia bar. Before going to Boston he had been a member 
of a volunteer fire company— in those days they were very 
numerous and political in their character — and also of a vol- 
unteer military company, and his former associates were, 
naturally enough, very proud of Ins elevation. Colonel Page 
was his military commander. 

Success attended him at the bar from the start, and i 
once entered upon a large and lucrative practi 

Pr or to his admission to the bar he had taken pari in local 
politics, and in 1842, when he was active in trying to allay 



Life ami Character of William D. Kelley. 73 

the excitement following the suspension of specie payments, 
he had become so well known and so popular that one of the 
papers called him " the tribune of the people." In the cam- 
paign of 1844, which made Francis R. Shunk governor of 
Pennsylvania and Polk President, Mr. Kelley took a promi- 
nent part, in his own State first, and later in New Jersey 
and Delaware. Governor Shunk's attorney-general. John 
K. Kane, promptly appointed him prosecuting attorney for 
the county of Philadelphia, which place he held for two 
terms by re-appointment. He thus became the prosecutor of 
all persons arraigned for participation in the memorable ' 
riots of 1844, a duty which he discharged with distinguished 
ability and force. One of Governor Shunk's last acts was 
t< > make him one of the judges of the court of common pleas 
of Philadelphia, which he did on the 13th of March, 1847, 

In this position he was put to a severe test in the well- 
known contested-election case of District Attorney Reed vs. 
Kneass. He united in a decision by which a Democrat who 
had secured a fraudulent return of votes was removed from 
the district attorneyship and his Whig opponent seated. 
Judge Kelley was known to be largely responsible for this 
act, and he was consequently ostracized by those with win mi 
he had formerly sympathized. The judicial office in Penn- 
sylvania having been made elective by the constitutional 
amendments adopted in 1850, the Democratic convention in 
1851 refused to renominate him because of his prominence in 
securing the removal of their candidate for district atti >rney. 

He was then taken up and elected for a ten-years' ten 1 1 1 13 
the "People's party," which comprised some of the best ele- 
ments of the Whig and Democratic parties. He severed his 
connection with the Democratic party when the Missouri 
compromise was repealed in 1854, and on the re-opening of t lie 
slavery controversy in that year he became earnest and out- 



74 Address of Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, on the 

spoken in his opposition to slavery. In fact, he had always 
been an anti-slavery man. How he became converted to 
doctrine of protection is graphical!} told in his " I: a i for 
Abandoning the Theory of Free Trade and Adopting the 
Principles of Protection to A.merican Industries." 

His entry into the political arena dates from this I 
Hi at once gave his strongesl efforts and influence in organ- 
izing the Republican party, and in 1856 he entered his new 
field by a public address in Philadelphia on "Slavery in the 
Territories," which became widely known and gave him quite 
a reputation beyond the limits of his own stair. In this 
year he was nominated as the Republican candidate for Con- 
gress by the new party he having resigned from the bench — 
and vigorously entered the campaign for the new part} and 
its Presidentia] candidates, Fremonl and Dayton, and after 
a severe fighl he was defeated, and again returned to the 
practice of his profession. 

In I860 he was senl as a delegate to the National Conven- 
tion a1 Chicago thai nominated Abraham Lincoln, and was 
selected by the Pennsylvania delegation to represent thai 
State on the committee to notify Mr. Line, in personallj of 
his nomination to the Presidi ncy. On his return from Chi- 
cago he was— in the autumn — nominateda second time for 
Congress and elected to the Thirty-sex enth < longress to rep- 
resenl the Fourth Congressional district in Philadelphia. 

He was sworn in at the special session which convened in 
July. L861, and held his seal by fourteen successive re-elec- 
tions, and was entering his fifteenth term or a service of 
nearly thirty years in the House of Representatives a dis- 
tinction enjoyed and a record equaled by no other man of the 
thousands who have served in the House of Representatives 
from the foundation of the < lovernment. 

It is hardly credible, yel nevertheless true, that in all of 



Life and Character of William 1). Kelley. 75 

his successive elections he was only on two occasions re- 
quired to struggle for his election. His first election in 1860 
was warmly contested, and in 1802 he defeated James P>. 
Nicholson by only 828 majority. Since that time he has 
always been elected by from 3,500 to 12,000 majority. 

It is a historical fact that Philadelphia has furnished the 
three oldest Congressmen in point of continue >us service : 
William D. Kelley, thirty years: Samuel J. Randall, 
twenty-nine years ; and Charles O'Neill, twenty-five years. 

On account of his long and continuous service in the House 
Judge Kelley acquired the sobriquet of the "Father of the 
House," but although the oldest man in service, he was not 
the oldest member in that body in point of age. Up to the 
time of his death Judge Kelley had administered the oath 
of office to five different Speakers of the House, and for 
some years past, on account of his long and faithful service, 
he was at the beginning of each Congress allowed to select 
his seat instead of drawing for it, an honor very rarely 
conferred. 

The life of Judge Kelley is a fair illustration of what 
can be accomplished under our free institutions. Commenc- 
ing his career in an humble occupation, without the advan- 
tages of the common school now afforded the very poorest 
boy, by his indomitable pluck and untiring energy he be- 
came the peer of any man who ever sat in that body of 
which he was a member. 

Judge Kelley was from the first a warm and enthusiastic 
supporter of President Lincoln in the prosecution of the 
war. He was on very intimate terms with both Mr. Lino >ln 
and Mr. Stanton, and no man in political life at that period 
more absolutely enjoyed their confidence and friendship. He 
was frequently consulted by them on important contem- 
plated movements, and his advice and counsel had much 



76 . \ddn ss oj Mr. ( ameron, of Pennsylvania, on the 

weight. He stood side by side with the most able and enthu- 
siastic defenders of the Union cause : In' zealously advocated 
the most vigorous conduct of the war. no matter a1 what 
cost; he favored speedy emancipation of the slaves and the 
bestowal of the right of suffrage on the newly-made citizen, 
ami as early as L862 he was a strong advooate for arming the 
negro; and he took an advanced position on the question 
the reconstruction of the Southern States. Eis acquaintai 
with the principal leaders in suppressing the rebellion gave 
him an opportunity of learning many important facts which 
were tit' groat assistance to him when he replied with gr 
i BEect to < leneral McClellan's article in the < ientury and also 
in defending Secretary Stanton against the attacks which 
were made upon him in the House of Representatives. 

Judge Kelley has always been a thorough student of 
national finances, the relations of capital to labor, and all 
kindred economic subjects. He was a hard and incessant 
worker. When in pursuit of certain knowledge and facts 
lie was untiring and unceasing until success crowned his 

efforts. He possessed a perfect house of dates and 

figures. He not only studied these questions in books, but 
the great fund of his knowledge was obtained by constant 
contact with the business men and manufacturers of the 
country by visiting industrial establishments of every kind 

and description, by personal interviews with tl peratn es, 

mechanics, and miners, not only in this country but in Eng- 
land, France, and Germany. Ho was therefore thoroughly 
informed. For this reason, there was no man in either 
House of Congress who was better equipped for discuss 
or a more ready debater on tariff questions of this and 
other countries. 

Having a remarkably fine voice, famous for its clearness. 
he always commanded attention and respect when hespo 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 77 

which was only when the subjects with which he was most 
familiar were up for discussion, and then he spoke with great 
effect and earnestness and full of enthusiasm. 

Judge Kelley was an indefatigable and industrious 
writer. Besides the numerous speeches which he delivered 
both in and out of Congress he published many pamphlets, 
such as Colored Department of the House of Refuge. Rea- 
sons for Abandoning Free Trade, Letters from Europe, and 
one of his productions was The New South, which attracted 
much attention throughout the country. 

His history while in Congress is familiar to all. He did 
faithful work on many committees to which he was assigned, 
such as the Committees on Agriculture, Naval Affairs, and 
Indian Affairs. He was. in the Fortieth Congress, chair- 
man of the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures, 
and also chairman of the Philadelphia Centennial Celebra- 
tion Committee in 187G. He was appointed a member of the 
Committee on Ways and Means in 1809; in 1873 he had risen 
to the second place on that committee, and when Mr. Dawes, 
of Massachusetts, was elected to the Senate in 1875 he be- 
came the senior Republican member. In 1879, when the 
House of Representatives was under Democratic rule. Mr. 
Garfield was placed ahead of him on the committee, but 
when the Republicans again got control of that body in 
December, 1881, he was made chairman of that committee, 
and thereby the leader of the House, and served as such 
until March, 1883, when the political complexion of the 
House of Representatives again changed. 

He, however, continued a member of this committee until 
last December, when on account of his enfeebled health he 
requested to be assigned to a committee which would not 
require so much labor, and he was therefore made chair- 
man of the Committee on Manufactures. This short Ins- 



78 Address of Mr. Cameron, oj Pennsylvania, on the 

tory of his services in the House shows the secret of his 
success. He zealously lahored in behalf of a constituency 
whom he loved so well and who in return showed their high 
appreciation of him. 

To illustrate, whal a wonderful hold he had upon his con- 
stituents in his district is shown in the answer of a promi- 
nent citizen of Philadelphia to a delegation who asked his 
assistance to place another man in nomination insti 
Judge Kki.i.ky. "What !" exclaimed the gentleman, " 
another man to Congress from the Fourth district while 
JudgeKELLEY Lives! That would lie an act of bas 
it i nle which would justly receive the execrations of th< Re- 
publican masses of the country, ami would Ik- a blow at the 

s of protection more damning in its effect than could be 
delivered by the combined Eree-traders on both sides of the 
Atlantic Ocean. No, gentlemen, while Judge Kku.kv lives 

her man can !»• chosen to represent his district in 

JS." 

The board of directors of the Manufacturers' Club of Phila- 
delphia, composed of some of the most prominent ami influ- 
ential men in our State, held a special meeting January 1 1. 
i wo days after Judge Celley's death, ami the follow- 
ing was their action. It shows the high esteem in which lie 
was held l'\ them: 

The death of Hen. William l>. Ki.u.i.'s on the 9th of January, 1890, 
in ill.- seventy-sixth year of his age, having closed a public career of 
unusual length ami of remarkable distinction, the Manufacturers' Club of 
Philadelphia, while deeply regretting the loss thus sustained bj Judge 
Kii.i.i.y> t'ainiu nation, bj the citj of Philadelphia, and by Ins 

immedial ostituents, desires to express, in the following minute, its 

i ness of the career :1ms ended, of the loftj character of 
tli.- man as a patriot ami a statesman, and of tin- value of lii~ sen 
his native land. 

It was tlie fortune of Judge Ki 1 1 > v to --it in the uational Bouse of 

Representatives as the Representative "t the Fourth Pennsylvania district 

a-l_\ thirtj Buccessivi i continuous length of service in that 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 79 

body that has rarely been equaled and not more than once or twice sur- 
passed. This unusual honor came to Judge Kelley as the acknowledg- 
ment and reward of his strict fidelity to and his wise and valiant 
maintenance of principles that seemed to have justice for their basis 
and the material prosperity of the people for their practical purpose. 

The years of Judge Kelley's public life included the most momentous 
period in the history of this country, and the part that he played in the 
great events of the time was large and conspicuous. The mi >st unfriendly 
scrutiny of his conduct will find little that deserves the condemnation of 
the prudent, and nothing that can cast reflection upon the purity of his 
motives. Upon the other band, it will lie hardly possible to discover in 
the records of the legislation of thirty years any measure that has produced 
beneficial results for any nation which does not bear the impress of his 
sagacity and foresight, or was not the recipient of his hearty approval and 
support. 

In the dark hours of the civil war the great President whom he helped 
to nominate and to elect found in him an eager coadjutor m every move- 
ment for the courageous conduct of the struggle for national existence 
and in everj scheme for uplifting the credit of the nation and for strength- 
ening the forces for the maintenance of the Union. 

In the troubled years that followed the final victory be relaxed none of 
the intensity of his patriotic devotion in giving bis sanction to all wise and 
safe action for the political and industrial rehabilitation of the Southern 
Slates. He was one of the first to perceive the industrial possibilities of 
the South, and to the latest year of his life he regarded the swift develop- 
ment of Southern industry with the eager enthusiasm of a patriot who 
saw in it a promise of a peaceful anil happy re-adjustment of tin •relations 
of that section to the rest of the country. 

Representing, as the Manufacturers' Club does. American industry gen- 
erally and the manufacturing industries of Pennsylvania particularly, 
we record with gratitude and pleasure our sense of the obligation of 
American industry to Judge Kelley's persistent, able, and eloquent 
advocacy of the principles of tariff protection. To no one public man. 
with the possible exception of Henry Clay, do the toilers of the country 
owe so much: and we rejoice, as he rejoiced, that bis lite was extended 
so far into the century as to permit him to witness the triumph of those 
principles in the development of home industry under their shelter to 
proportions of magnificent and unsurpassed greatness. He lived to 
observe the reaping of the fruits of his early labors ami the rich fulfill- 
ment of his prophecies. The full justification of his constant efforts 

came before he died, in the near approach of his ] pie to industrial 

independence, in large earnings for the workmen, in lower prices of 
commodities, and in the advancement of his country to a condition of 
prosperity without precedent in history. 

His public life was characterized by complete devotion to duty, and 
both his public and his private life by perfect puritj . No breath of stis- 



80 Address of Mr. Cameron, of Pennsylvania, on the 

pii ion ever assailed his integrity. The familiar defilements of politics left 
hi upon him. His successes at the polls were not won by art or 
by skillful manipulation of machinery. He owed no allegiance to any 
master, and no clique looked to him to 'I" its bidding. Sis constituents 
returned him tot kmgress without any other incentive than a full appreci- 
ation of his high qualities and a complete sense <>f the value to them and 
to the nation of hi> Ben ices. I li^ claim t" Buch honor was that he was a 
statesman in breadth of mind and in practical equipment for performance 
of the functions of statecraft. To his natural mental power he added 
learning, to Ins learning unusual i'l<H|ui'nc<>. and to all his faculties a 
deep, intense, overmastering love for his country and its political insti- 
tutions. 

No better tribute could be paid to the memory of Judge 
K ii \.\.\ than thai in the ad of the Pennsylvania delegation 
in Congress when they passed the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That the State of Pennsylvania has lost, bj the death of our 
distinguished colleague, Hon. William D. Kelley, a Representative in 
the full sense of that term. An actual service of over twenty-nine 
unbroken in continuity, with unremitting faithfulness to everj duty, has 
made the name of our deceased colleague known from one end of the 
land to the other ; and we feel that the citizens of the United States are 

iwhlg with us . .11 this sad OCCS ion, 

Resolved, That, in testimony of our esteem to the memorj of the 
"Father of the House," the members of the Pennsylvania delegation 
attend the funeral services in a body. 

lived, That a copj of these resolutions he transmitted to the family 

of tin' deo a 

Judge Ki.i.i.ky was a man of dignity and refinement and 

3sed of a simple ami amiable yet strong and forcible 

character, which won him the Love as well as the respect of 

all wim were associated with him. He was neither afraid 

ishamed t.. assert his convictions with a boldness that 

not only startled but made his op| respect him. 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 81 

Address of Mr. Morrill, of Vermont. 

Mr. President : My acquaintance with Mr. Kelley be- 
gan upon his entrance as a member of the House of Repre- 
sentatives in 1861, where I served with him until 1867; and 
our friendly personal relations were ever after unbroken. I 
remember that he at once took rank as a ready and cogent 
debater, showing deep interest in the subject of the tariff, 
often exhibiting special knowledge of details, and having a 
voice of dramatic power he was not only heard but under- 
stood in a House where many found it difficult even to be 
heard. He was a model of industry, shunning no labor that, 
was required to obtain the mastery of the subject, and he 
also recognized the duty of being an unfailing attendant 
upon the daily sessions of the House. 

Mr. Kelley was not unfamiliar with the British free-trade 

tl I'ies of Adam Smith and of his successors, and above all 

he was familiar with the works on political economy of Henry 
C. Carey, early becoming perhaps cue of his most distin- 
guished disciples, and, it is hardly necessary to say, a learned 
and robust supporter of the principle of American protection. 
In the application of this principle he was thoroughly im- 
parl Lai, not limited to the local boundaries of his district, but, 
believing that it covered Lis country with blessings to mul- 
tiply industries and broaden home markets, he seemed as 
readj to have these blessings conferred upon the people of 
the most distant States as upon his own neighbors. He was 
alerl to see that no public interest should anywhere be 
slighted or ignored, whether represented by political friends 
or opponents. He would ask nothing I'm- Pennsylvania that, 
he would not, grant to Florida, or to Alabama, or to any 
other State. 

H. Mis. 229 6 



82 Address of Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, on the 

He was as courteous in debate as a gentleman of 1 1 Iden 

time, and therefore made no personal enemies. As a repre 
sentative of the Quaker City be was sternly opposed to 
slavery; but, while he bated the sin, be did not so much 
hate the sinners, believing thai thej inherited rather than 
originated this blot upon free institutions. 

Proud of his own early experience as an artisan, be favored 
all measures tending to promote the welfare of workingmen. 
He was their friend. He cheerfully accepted the sportive 
nickname of "Pig-iron Celley," bestowed apou him by those 
unable otherwise to meel bis arguments, and he used the 
epithet as a club furnished by hi- foes to win for himself 
greater renown. 

Mr. K u.i.ky was one of many typical examples of Ameri- 
can life. Starting, with a g I English education, as an 

a] i] >n -nt ice in the trade of a jeweler, and working as a jour- 
nej man for five years, then studying the profession of law, 
he was soon advanced to the position of a judge in one of the 
courts of Philadelphia, his native city, and at length, in our 
country's great crisis of IS60, be was chosen as a member of 
the House of Representatives, at the ripe age of forty-seven 
years, by a district whose confidence and affection be suc- 
cessfully retained through life. After a continuous and 
consp of twenty-nine years, honorable alike to 

If ami bis constituency, and after a long and 
life, ondimmed l>\ spot or blemish, his career has ended ; bu1 
a national reputation will lung cling to the name of William 
I). Ki.i.i.r.N . 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 83 



Address of Mr. Reagan, of Texas. 

Mr. President: Hon. William D. Kelley served the 
people of Pennsylvania acceptably and continuously in the 
House of Representatives for about twenty-nine years. 

He enjoyed the distinction of being the senior member of 
the House for many years, and was spoken of as the ' ' Father 
of the House. " 

I do not propose to deliver a eulogium on the life and 
services of this distinguished man. That task has been 
better performed by the Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr. 
Cameron]. I shall only occupy a few moments to express 
the respect and esteem I entertained for Mr. Kelley while 
living and my respect for his memory now that he has gone 
from among us. 

The first four years I served in the House ended with the 
Thirty-sixth Congress. Mr. Kelley"s service in the House 
commenced with the Thirty-seventh Congress. When I 
returned to the House in the Forty-fourth Congress I found 
Mr. Kelley its senior member by continuous service. We 
were then associated as members of the House for twelve 
years. While in politics and on some leading questions we 
did not agree in opinion, otir intercourse was always 
friendly. 

Mr. Kelley, by his courteous bearing and by the frank- 
ness, earnestness, and sincerity of his conduct, commanded 
the respect of his associates. 

His life was a splendid illustration of a type of American 
character which is one of the chief glories of the Republic. 
Commencing life in poverty and obscurity he learned to be 
a printer, and afterwards served an apprenticeship to the 



S4 Address of Mr. Reagan, oj Texas, on the 

jeweler's trade and worked .it it as a journeyman. By the 
ai<l of a superior Lntelled and by energy and perseverance 
he afterwards became a LawytT, then prosecuting attornej 
for the city and county el' Philadelphia, and still later lie 
was for leu years judge <>t' the courl of common plea.- of 
Philadelphia. To these honors was added his long ami 
useful career in Congress. 

h a life ami such achievements under such circum- 
stances are a. noble example and a greal encouragemenl to 
the \ .mi h of mil- country, and especially to those who have 
i" lighl life's liattles unaided by fort line or family influence. 
Mr. Ki.i.i i.y's public experience covered a wry Interesting 
and exciting period of American history, during which he 
took his part in the disposition of greal public questions in 
such a manner as to command the approval of hi- constitu- 
ents. 

Mr. President, while com me rating the services and the 

virtues of our deceased friend sad memories are called into 
review. A number of the most distinguished members of 
the Fifty-firsl ( !ongress have passed from life into the shore- 
less sea of eternity. The bright, the brilliant and learned. 
and uoble-hearted Samuel S. Cox was the firsl to leave us. 
Then our able and patriotic friend. William I). Kinrs. 
whose services and worth we now commemorate. 

S after he was followed by his distinguished c 

from Pennsylvania, Samuel .1. Randall, a man of great abil- 
ity ami -reat labor, of the broadest patriotism, a horn leader 
of men. who during his long service in Congress preserved 
an unsullied reputation. And still another, an honored >• 'ii 
of New Fork, David Wilber, who had In,. n elected t" the 
Fifty-firsl Congress, died without having been aide to take 
his seat as a Representative. Ajid we are painf ull j reminded 
that a member of this Senate.-., recentlj with us, Hon. 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 85 

James B. Beck, of Kentucky, whom we all loved and hon- 
ored for his noble qualities of head and heart, is n< 1 more. 

It is not permitted to us to know how soon others of us 
are to be separated from all that is dear to lis on earth and 
to follow our friends to the unknown hereafter. 

Mr. President, we go on in the performance of our duties, 
studying until the brain is sometimes dizzy, working until 
the body is often worn and exhausted, and looking to the 
future as if time belonged to us, and as if eternity were 
never to be reached. And amidst the busy scenes of life we 
may fancy ourselves more or less important factors in our 
country's welfare if not in the world's progress. 

We seldom pause to think how unimportant we really are, 
and how little the world, even our own country, will miss 
us when we are gone. However much importance we may 
attach to ourselves and to the parts we play in life, when we 
have joined our friends on the other shore the world will 
move on, and our own country will continue its march to the 
great destiny which awaits it, the same as if we had never 
lived, and we shall soon be remembered no more. 

This is not a cheerful reflection, except for the promise 
beyond the grave for those who have done well in this life. 
But if such reflections shall teach us greater humility, cause 
us to be more just, make us more charitable to one another, 
and lead to a broader philanthropy, they are not without 
their uses. 



86 Iresi oj Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, on the 



Address of Mr. Sherman, of Ohio. 

Mr. President: William l>. Kki.lkv entered the House 
of Representatives in L861,as I Left it for the Senate. There- 
1 bad qoI the same opportunity for acquaintance with 
liim as if we had served together in the same House and on 
committees, where intimate personal friendships are ofl 
formed for life. Still, frequenl association and meetings 
with Mr. Kki.lkv. socially and in the consideration of bills 
of a financial character, since be became a member, led to a 
friendship which was unbroken, and which, now thai he is 
dead, imposes upon me the duty of responding to the reso- 
lutions before you. 

Winn Mr. Kki.lkv entered the House of Representatives 
as a member from the city of Philadelphia be had arrived 
at the mature age of forty-six, and had an established repu- 
tation lor ability, industry, and fidelity to duty. II.- i 
been trained in the school of poverty, making his own way 
in tin- world, gathering knowledge by the wayside. He 
labored for several years at his trade as a mechanic; but, 
prompted by a restless thirst tor knowledge, lie studied law. 
and lor several years he practiced the legal profession. In 
due time he became a judge and served as such for ten 
years, so that when he entered public life as a member of the 
House lie was a trained lawyer, with ictionsupon 

economic questions, and bold and earnest on all the stern 

issues of the civil War. 

The creed to which he devoted himself consisted of but 
three articles: That the rjnion must lie preserved at all 
hazards: that the National (Jovernment should exercise its 

exclusive power to provide money for the j pie of the 

[Jnited States; ami that the laborer of our country should lie 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 87 

protected in his industry from undue competition. To the 
establishment of each of these theories as the public policy 
of the country he contributed his full measure of effort and 
success. By instinct he was opposed to slavery. All his 
early struggles and his innate perceptions of the rights of 
man made him an enemy to all forms of oppression. Still, 
he would have respected the right of each State to deal with 
this question, but when it became manifest that slavery was 
the real cause of the attempt at secession he was among the 
first and foremost to demand that it should be abolished. 
But especially as the recognized leader in the support of 
protection to American industry he exercised commanding 
influence and authority. 

Whatever opinions may be honestly entertained as to the 
nature and extent of this protection, Judge Kelley had no 
doubt, but impartially and freely extended it to every indus- 
try without regard to its nature or the section in which it 
was pursued. On all economic questions he had accurate 
knowledge of details. His patient industry enabled him to 
master every shade and side of such a question, and espe- 
cially so as to the policy of protection by discriminating 
duties. On other matters he was a follower, but in this 
always a leader. His writings and speeches upon this and 
kindred questions constitute a store-house of information 
and the best evidence of his industry and ability. 

From the time he entered public life until the hour of his 
death he commanded the full confidence of his people. No 
fluctuation of opinion, no personal rivalries, no contests for 
patronage or office could weaken their confidence in his 
integrity and justice. All these obstructions in the paths 
of public men. often fatal, did not affect him. For thirty 
years he was the chosen Representative of one constituency, 
a remarkable, and in our country an unexampled, event. 



88 Address of .Mr. Sherman, of Ohio, on the 

In the H"use of Representatives, famous t'<>r its sudden 
changes, In- was for many years "the Father of the II 
and no doubt, if his life had been prolonged to tin- extreme 
period allotted to man. his seal in the House would have 
been safe for him. 

No one could have so secured such an honor from such a 
constituencj without possessing marked ability, superior 
intelligence, and an unblemished character. The history of 
political life is full of fading shadows crowding each other, 
tired and tossed as upon a stormy sea. coming and going 
with. mi mark or memory; bu1 when a man appears, like 
Judge Kelley, thoroughly equipped for public duty, court- 
ing qo man ami fearing none, supported as he w as wii hout 
wavering or a break by a constituencj who knew every ad 
of his life, until he had outlived nearly all his contemporaries 
and had reached the venerable age of seventy-six 3 ears, such 
an example gives assurance thai there are conservative 
forces in a governmenl by the people, and that faithful serv- 
ices honestlj rendered will meet with the highest reward. 
The life of our Republic is bul short as measured by the 
life of European nations, bul it has been long enough to 
disprove the common theory that to secure stability and 
strength in a government it must be controlled bythe priv- 
ileged and educated classes. 

[neverj period of our history it has been shown that from 
the rank- of the people, without special training and often 
in the face of the most adverse difficulties, have come the 
men who have led in ( longress, in the judiciary, in the Army 

and Navy, and in the highest fields of invention, litera- 
ture, and science. Judge Kki.i.ky is only one of many of 
these. Death has taken from among us within a brief time 
many of the most illustrious actors in the great events that 
have marked the period of our lives, and almost without 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 89 

exception they have been typical American citizens, who 
commenced without advantage, were baptized in poverty. 
and made their way by personal ability and proven fitness 
for the duties assigned them. 

The living principle of our Government, that every man 
shall have equal opportunity without favor or prejudice to 
win his way and enjoy his honest gains and honors, has been 
shown to be the true policy by the production of men of su- 
perior ability for every task and every duty. It is the chief 
cause of the wonderful development of our resources, and is 
the conservative and enduring force that we believe will, 
under Divine Providence, strengthen our institutions and 
enable us to resist alike the corruption of wealth and the 
ravings of ignorance. The mass of the people, under the 
influence of free institutions, will, by their unbiased choice, 
furnish leaders and representatives to keep the ship of state 
free from these dangers. 

Death may take from us such men as Kelley and Randall, 
but the principles and training that brought them into pub- 
lic life and kept them there to the hour of their death will 
supply their places until in the time, far distant as I hope, 
when our Republic, like all forms of government, will perish 
from corruption and ignorance. The impressive lessons 
taught us by these frequent ceremonies need not disturb our 
hope for the future of our country, but they should impress 
upon us the uncertain tenure by which we hold our repre- 
sentative trusts, and our sacred duty to perform them so that, 
when we taste the bitterness of death, our survivors may say 
of us, as we say of them, "Well done, good and faithful 
servants." 



90 Address of Mr. Hampton, of South Carolina, on the 



ADDRESS OF MR. HAMPTON, OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 

Mr. President : Few men in fche Onited States during the 

half century which has just closed occupied a more t spic- 

uous position in his party than did the distinguished gentle- 
lii.in from Pennsylvania to whose memory all of us this day, 
putting aside the strife of party conflicts, pause from our 
daily routine of duty to pay kind and respectful homage. 
We do this. 1 1. >i on accouni of his lung public service, but 
I H ■cause he was a brave, conscientious man, upon whose char- 
acter no stain of dishonest} ever rested, a good type of those 
men who have made the name of American citizen as proud, 
as powerful, and as honorable as that of Roman. The bo 
of the Roman was predicated mi tin- fact that the seven- 
hilleil city dominated the world by arms; the nobler boasl of 

the American is that his country is showing how the world 

can lie governed by ideas, and all Christendom now recog- 
nizes thai the weapons we use are mure potent than those 
with which Rome conquered the world. 

It was in this intellectual field of conflid that Judge 
Kei.i.kv won his proudest triumphs; I'm- while his patriotic 
ardor impelled him to !>ra\ <• the perils and the hardships of 
war. it is his greatest distinction that he was in the halls of 
Congress a potent factor in shaping the policy of the party 
to which he belonged; a policy which, whether right or 

wrong, was brought to a successful issue, ami to the success 

of which he contributed in no small measure. It is scarcely 

pj for me to say, Mr. President, that the policy he 

advocated with such zeal and ability was utterly repugnant 

to the political creed held by myself, hut in the advocacy of 



life and Character of II tlliam D. Kelley. 91 

his measures he manifested such implicit faith, such honest, 
brave consistency, that, while I never agreed with him, my 
respect for the man was sincerely entertained. 

Nor can I forget that when time had softened the asperities 
engendered by our civil war he manifested an earnest interest 
in the welfare and prosperity of the South, and expressed the 
kindest wishes for its people. All his utterances of late in 
reference to our people were marked by broad charity and 
sincere good-will, and he thus evoked from many who were 
his political opponents feelings of a kindred character. We 
of the South recall with kind emotions one of his latest 
expressions in reference to that portion of the country when 
he said: "The South is the coming El Dorado of American 
adventure. May the Almighty speed and guide her onward 
progress! " It is therefore not only natural but proper that 
Representatives of the South should join their Northern 
colleagues in doing honor to his memory. He was emphat- 
ically a tribune of the people: no adventitious circumstances 
of birth, of wealth, or of influence were his to speed him on 
in the race of life. Errand-boy, apprentice, artisan, he, 
without the advantage of an early education, not only filled 
high positions with honor and distinction, but he rose by 
the force of his character and power of his intellect to a 
commanding place in the councils of the country. 

An intelligent and confiding constituency returned him 
as their Representative in the other branch of Congress for 
fifteen consecutive terms, a distinction conferred on no 
other member since the organization of the Government; 
and, however men may differ with his political views, they 
must admit that a man who could thus command the un- 
bounded confidence, the unanimous support, the life-long 
respect and esteem of Ins fellow-citizens must have been a 
man of mark. The fact that he held his seat in the House 



92 Address oj Mr. Hampton, oj South Carolina, on lh< 

of Representatives so long and so uninterruptedly was honor- 
able alike to himself and to his constituents, foril proves 
that he was worthy of their confidence, and thai they recog- 
nized his ability, his worth, and his services. No man with 
such a record as he made for himself can fall oul of the ranks 
of the Living without Leaving a wide gap' and one difficult 
to till. That ureal State which is still in mourning for 
Judge Kei.i.kv has again recently had the heavy hand 
iif affliction laid on her. for she deplores the Loss of his 
illustrious colleague, that great commoner whose fame was 
as broad as our land and whose death is felt as a national 
calamity. 

There was a striking similarity in the public career of 
these two distinguished sons of Pennsylvania— William 
1 >. Kellev and Samuel .1. Randall — and by a strange coin- 
cidence their Long, arduous, and devoted services to their 

State were ended by death at nearly the same time. Di 
ferine; widely as they did in politics, often brought into 
sharp political antagonism, there were many points of 
character in which they resembled each other. Both were 
brave, positive, aggressive, ami conscientious men. and each 
could justly he called "an honest man. the ooblest work 
of God;" and while each battled with earnest zeal ami un- 
faltering courage for the triumph of his principles and his 
party— 

Theirs was do common part] race, 
ing bj dark intrigue for place. 

In contemplating the careers of these two meat actors on 
the public Stage, similar as they were in SO man J particu- 
lars and yet so divergent in others, we are reminded of 
England's immortal rivals. Pitt and Fox: and the touching 
tribute paid to their memory, when they were laid at resl in 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 93 

Westminster Abbey, by Scotland's border minstrel might 
appropriately be applied to the dead sons of Pennsylvania : 

Genius and taste and talent gone, 
Forever tombed beneath the stone. 
Where — taming thought to human pride— 
The mighty chiefs sleep side by side. * * * 
The solemn echo seems to cry 
Here let their discord with them die. 
Speak not for those a separate doom 
Whom Fate made brothers in the tomb. 



ADDRESS OF MR. HAWLEY, OF CONNECTICUT. 

Mr. President : There are vast opportunities among a 
great people numbering 60,000,000, where every man lias 
the opportunity to become all that Heaven gives him power 
to be. Whether or not a republic shall develop greater men 
than are to be found elsewhere I do not know, but it is 
certain. I think, to develop a greater number of men of use- 
ful type. In conversational debates, newspaper readings, 
political meetings and conventions, in the absolute freedom 
of association, so that nearly every adult has been a chair- 
man, or secretary, or a committeeman, over and over again, 
all knowledge of affairs and qualities of leadership are 
cultivated. In the city governments and legislatures and 
congresses are needed men qualified to speak and to hold 
delegated power. 

When masses of men find themselves with opinions ami 
purposes that they think exceedingly important, they must 
find a representative man, and our institutions develop him. 
Ee is sent to a Legislature or Congress, ami there lie "rep- 
resents" with vigor and sincerity. The people speak 
through him : lie confers with them constantly ami lie seeks 



Address of Mr. Hawley, of Connecticut, on the 

to please them. A captious and pessimistic critic may say 
the man is a demagogue, bu1 the people know him better. 
II. is there because they send him, and they send him be- 
cause he is evidently the warmest ami strongest man among 
them. He is of and for the people. The demagogue may 
letimes circumvent him. but he has a vast advantage in 
the evident earnestness, sincerity, and absolute honesty of 
his character. He touches elbows with all ranks and classes. 

- h a man was Judge Kkli.kv, of the great clas 
commoners of whom Lincoln was the type and chief. Judge 
K ku.ky's hold on his constituents could not he shaken. It 
never could have been purchased. Such characters are 
born, not made. Some doubters of human nature think it 
evidence against a man that all the people appear to like 
him. Vet it is said of the Divine Man. and it is one "t' the 
most precious lines of the Holy Scriptures, that ••the corn- 
people heard him gladly." 

I..-; as take comfort in thinking that these things gr 
in.. re respect and hope for our fellow-men. The generation 
that grappled Judge Kf.i.i.kv t<> themselves with hooks of 
nd would have re-elected him for a hundred year-, 
can not lie a very had people. The country is richer and 
strongerthat such men have lived. Hi- countrymen 
not unduly mourning that at the age of seventy-six he lias 
idosed his long and Doble record. They are taking courage 
and thinking better of human nature and of i he institutions 
that can produce a man s. • typical of what American Btat< B- 
inen ought to be. 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 95 



Address of Mr. Daniel, of Virginia. 

Mr. President: William Darrah Kelley, a Represent- 
ative from Pennsylvania in the Congress of the United 
States, was born in Philadelphia on the 12th day of April, 
1814, and died in Washington City on the 9th of January, 
1890, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He was a self- 
made man, who rose to eminence by dint of strong natural 
capacities, resolute energies, concentrated purpose, and the 
high endeavor to be useful to his constituents, his country, 
and his fellow-men. 

American in birth, tastes, intuitions, and aspirations, he 
illustrated in his history the beneficence of free institutions, 
and in his character some of the best traits typical of his 
countrymen. His early boyhood was a scuffle for livelihood. 
His youthful manhood was a struggle for education and rec- 
ognition. His maturer years were conflicts for the honors 
of his profession. From the meridian of life to its close he 
was in the thick strifes of public business. 

The sunset of life found him with — 

That which should accompany old age: 
Love, obedience, troops of friends. 

Full of years and wearing honors fairly won, he has at 
last suffered the common lot; and we pause in the midst of 
public cares to tender our sympathies to his bereaved family, 
to pay our respect to his memory, and to lift the example of 
his usefulness above his new-made grave. 

To those who were familiar with him in the social walks 
of life and between whom and himself existed the endear- 
ments of private friendship I leave the task— to them now 
sad indeed yet graceful and most fit! ing— of port raying those 



g6 Address of Mr. Daniel^ of Virginia^ on the 

qualities which tied to him in confidence and affection the 
companions of his labors and the constituents of his polit- 
ical career. 

I knew him scarce more than in that Large sense in which 
we know the distinguished men of our country by their 
writings, speeches, and public works, though I was 
sionally brought in contacl with him and had opportunity 
to observe bis bearing and take cognizance of his abilities 
while an associate member of the House of Representatives 
in the Forty-ninth Congress. 

Judge K i.i.i.ky was a manly man. This his tall figure 
and strongly marked countenance indicated, and this his 
conduct proved. He was independent and self-poised in 
character; hold, frank, and direct in his method- of proced- 
ure; ardent in temperament; strong in conviction; earnest 
iii advocacy. As a debater ' ,li rank. Hi.- re- 

searches were untiring. He shed light on every question he 
discussed, and he took a leading pari in nearly every issue 
I between his party and its opponents. He was thor- 
oughly informed on the questions which he undertook to 
elucidate; w',-11 cultured in literature; and his utterances 
were delivered with dramatic power, hint his mind was 
business-like ami practical; and while his general informa- 
tion was large, it was in the power to apply what he knew 
and prove its weight and influence upon the point of dispu- 
th.it he displayed the posses-ion of sound learning 
and the high faculties of sound judgment and common 

e. 

It was as an momist that Judge Kiim.y was most dis- 
tinguished. Questions of finance, of commerce ami manu- 
factures, of taxation, of material development, were the 
questions which chiefly attracted liis attention. And his 

lectllles. spe. ,d e-saV- OH these topje- denote t ] i . - 



Life and Character of William D. Kelley. 97 

fidelity of his researches, the breadth of his acquisitions 
and comprehensions, and his powers of presentation. 

We all owe a debt, society at large owes a debt, to the 
able disputant, whether there be concurrence of sentiment 
or no, just as the judge and jury owe a great debt to the 
honest and learned lawyer who lays before them the learn- 
ing and logic of a case. 

Political science owes a debt to Judge Kelley, and those 
of 11s who on some points disagree with him owe our full 
share for the honest, patient toil and fine intelligence with 
which he illustrated the field in which we are gleaners seek- 
ing for the truth. 

Judge Kelley entered Congress on the 4th of July, 1861, 
when the drum-beat was summoning millions to arms. 

He remained there by successive elections throughout the 
war and its unhappy aftermath, and, indeed, until the 9th day 
of January, 1890, when, at the age of seventy-six, he lay day 
cold in death. He had become the " Father of the House," 
and was venerated as a patriarch by his colleagues. He saw 
war divide and then peace restore the Union and settle into 
peacefulness. 

While a Representative in Congress he saw his country 
grow from :il,000,000 to 60,000,000 of people, and the States 
multiply from thirty-four to forty-two. A partisan while 
strife was flagrant, he did much to point out the paths of 
restoration when strife ended. Hatreds he did not cherish. 
Toward the South he felt kindly, and his sagacious mind 
was among the foremost to realize the vast resources and 
possibilities of that section, and his tongue and pen were 
elocment in pointing them out and in inspiring hope and 
good cheer amongst its people. The South appreciated alike 
the generous promptings of his heart and the rich ganiusof 
his intellect, and mourn his death. 
H. Mis. 229 7 



98 Life and Chara William D. /Cell 

That for thirty yeai I od in one place, doing one 

thing and looking incy that no 

euL _ '1 heighten. 

That no suspicion ever haunl - a proof 

of honesty that needs no witn 

That he maintained himself amongsl the foremost cham- 
pions and held through all shifting and 
support of his constituency is a monument to their fealty 
and friendship and to his merit more enduring than bi 
or marble. 

I ambition did not tempt him to seek other | 
than that which lie held shows his appreciation and Ins 
countrymen's appreciation of a fact noteworthy ami honor- 
able, that in our free Government t" be a representativi 
the people is an honor in itself than which none i^ higher. 

We can not solve the bright mystery of life or the dark 
mystery <>f death. 

But at the end of a life like this, rounded in years. 
fulness, and honor, fond memories soothe the aching 

grief and Hope points upward from the home of sorrow. 

Mr. Cameron. I m adoption Lutions. 

The Vice-President. The question is on the adoption of 
the resolutioi I by the Senator from Pennsylvania. 

were unanimously agreed to; and 
ock and 4 minutes p. m.) tl S tdjourned until 

>w, W. dnesday, May 21, - t 12 o'clock m. 



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